Max Holloway claims Islam Makhachev was ducking him, says he's down to fight 'Khabib 2.0'
Max Holloway recently made a startling revelation as he claimed that Islam Makhachev had been ducking him but appears to be more open to entertaining the idea of a potential bout. The 'BMF' champion is attempting to regain the featherweight championship at UFC 308 and expressed interest in attempting double champion status.
'Blessed' is no stranger to the Dagestani's team as he famously agreed to step in to replace Tony Ferguson and fight Khabib Nurmagomedov for the vacant UFC lightweight championship in 2018. It appeared as though the bout was going to happen and there was even a pre-fight press conference and faceoff between the two.
However, Holloway was unable to make the 155-pound limit and was instead replaced by Al Iaquinta.
While speaking to former flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson, Holloway expressed interest in challenging Makhachev because of the significance to his legacy.
'Blessed' claimed that the Dagestani was ducking him eventually, but mentioned that he has now changed his mind and appears open to the idea:
"They call Islam [Makhachev] Khabib 2.0. I want all the taste, I want all the smoke and it would be an honor to fight that guy and try to etch my name in the history books... Islam never wanted to fight me even when I was saying I was coming up to [155 pounds] after fighting the guy that he was supposed to fight next...but then, recently his tone changed." [29:33 - 30:00]
Check out the full interview with Max Holloway below:
Max Holloway opens up about his experience competing at 155 pounds
In addition to expressing interest in challenging Islam Makhachev for his lightweight championship, Max Holloway opened up about his experience competing at 155 pounds.
Prior to his bout against Justin Gaethje, 'Blessed' had previously fought Dustin Poirier at 155 pounds but admitted that he wasn't in the correct shape. During the aforementioned interview, Holloway mentioned that he took the time to prepare his body and noted that he felt great in the octagon:
"I felt good. We got to put on the right weight, we didn't get too big cause I had an idea of maybe coming back to [145 pounds] after... So, we had to put on some right size to the point where I didn't get too big and slow. Most of my advantages is speed whenever I fight, so we wanted to keep the speed that we had at [145 pounds] to 155 [pounds]." [4:01 - 4:26]
Check out the reaction to Max Holloway's latest win over Justin Gaethje below: