"Pay the fine for me!" - Max Holloway urges Nike to take over from Dwayne Johnson as UFC's shoe sponsor
Max Holloway doesn't seem to be a fan of the UFC's current footwear sponsor. The top-ranked featherweight recently urged Nike to take over the promotion's shoe sponsorship and even offered to break some rules for the multinational corporation if they were willing to pay his fines.
The UFC's current footwear sponsor is Hollywood star Dwayne Johnson's sports brand, Project Rock. The shoes were created in collaboration with Under Armor. All UFC athletes are required to wear Project Rock-branded Under Armor shoes during all major events.
In a recent interview on Full Size Run by Complex, Holloway discussed the UFC's official shoe sponsor. Given how much Johnson has been criticized for the Project Rock footwear, 'Blessed' was asked if he liked wearing the shoes. He replied:
"It is what it is. It's about the company, and I like 'The Rock.' I know him and I know his agent."
Holloway then referenced the recently released movie Air and appealed to the company to invest in UFC, saying:
"At the end of the day... The movie 'Air' just dropped and you guys showed how much you went after Michael Jordan, Nike. Why don't you guys step into a whole new realm of MMA fighters in the octagon... I know you paid the fines for Jordan, pay the fines for me, let me use them for walkouts."
Catch Max Holloway's comments below (14:10):
Alexander Volkanovski on Max Holloway getting another title shot
Max Holloway is undoubtedly one of the greatest featherweights in UFC history. The former 145-pound champion has dominantly beaten every opponent he's come across since his loss to Conor McGregor in 2013, except featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski.
Alexander Volkanovski going 3-0 against Max Holloway is one of the best accomplishments in UFC history. P4P King. @alexvolkanovski
#MMATwitter https://t.co/y3s5zVswH6
Volkanovski defeated Holloway at UFC 245 in December 2019 to take home featherweight gold. The Australian hasn't lost a single bout at 145 pounds since.
Given Holloway's clear status as the second-best featherweight in the UFC, 'Blessed' was given a shot at 'The Great' three times but found no success.
While it looks likely that Max Holloway will continue gatekeeping the title shot, Alexander Volkanovski recently claimed that he'd find it hard to fight him for the fourth time. In an interview on FreeStyleBender on Youtube, Volkanovski said:
"It's a little frustrating. I've been saying, it's the same Max... I'm at my peak understanding of the game, and he's still that good... It'll be definitely harder to sell me on it now... It's a tricky situation for him. I'm guessing he's hoping that I just lose to Yair Rodriguez or something like that."
Watch the full video below: