When Max Holloway created the most iconic octagon moment - "I'm the best boxer in the UFC, baby!"
Max Holloway, one of the greatest featherweight fighters of all time, and the former UFC featherweight champion had one of the most iconic moments in the octagon against Calvin Kattar at UFC Fight Island 7. 'Blessed' outstruck Calvin Kattar and put on a striking clinic against 'The Boston Finisher', breaking multiple records in just one fight.
The Hawaiian native was so fired up that he was talking to Kattar mid-fight while throwing combinations at him. At one point, he even pointed at the commentary booth for them to acknowledge that he's "the best boxer in the UFC".
Here's what Max Holloway said mid-fight to the commentary booth:
"Count it up! I'm the best boxer in the UFC, baby! What's up? What?! I'm the best boxer!!"
Check out the iconic moment of 'Blessed':
Never forget this LEGENDARY Max Holloway moment!
@BlessedMMA is BACK this Saturday to headline at #UFCKansasCity! https://t.co/NEluPqCpbD
Although Kattar was outclassed and outstruck by his Hawaiin adversary, he managed to stay in the fight despite accumulating a ton of damage over five rounds. 'The Boston Finisher' was commended for his heart and fighting spirit by the commentary booth, who at the same time couldn't help but tip their hat to 'Blessed' for his iconic performance.
Max Holloway went on to beat Yair Rodriguez in his next fight to earn a title shot against arguably the featherweight GOAT, Alexander Volkanovski. However, when they met for the third time at UFC 276, the fight was reminiscent of Holloway vs. Kattar, except this time, 'Blessed' was on the receiving end of a savage beatdown.
What was Max Holloway's striking rate against Calvin Kattar?
Max Holloway had one of the most dominant performances against Calvin Kattar at UFC Fight Island 7, and went on to set multiple records in the fight, including the most significant strikes landed in a fight.
According to the official UFC stats, Max Holloway had a significant striking rate of 59%, landed a total of 447 out of 746 strikes. In terms of significant strikes, he landed 445 out of 744. Calvin Kattar only had a significant striking rate of 47%, landing only 134 out of 284 total strikes, and 133 out of 283 significant strikes.
Jan16.2021
2 years ago today,
Max Holloway put on one of the greatest performances in UFC history against Calvin Kattar. https://t.co/FClBbr8gTl
Holloway ended up breaking the record for the most number of significant strikes landed in UFC history, which was 2805 at the time. As of now, 'Blessed' still stands atop the list at a total of 2975 significant strikes landed in his career.