5 reasons why Max Holloway isn't the featherweight GOAT
Max Holloway is an incredible fighter. In fact, he is one of the greatest featherweights in MMA history. Despite his Hall of Fame-worthy career and the legendary moments he's given, the strength of his legacy cannot be used to discount those of other featherweights when determining who the greatest is.
Two other UFC fighters might have a stronger claim to the title of featherweight GOAT. Both are past opponents of Holloway's, with one of them holding wins over him.
Alexander Volkanovski and Jose Aldo all have stronger claims than Holloway. Volkanovski remains undefeated in the weight class, with his only loss coming at welterweight. Jose Aldo went on an unprecedented championship run that remains unmatched by any featherweight to this day.
While Holloway is great, these two others might be greater. This list examines 5 reasons why Max Holloway isn't the greatest featherweight of all time.
#5 Jose Aldo faced stronger opposition
The list of opponents Max Holloway has bested in his run as a featherweight includes the likes of Cub Swanson, Charles Oliveira, Jeremy Stephens, Ricardo Lamas, Anthony Pettis, Jose Aldo, Brian Ortega, Frankie Edgar, Calvin Kattar, and Yair Rodriguez.
All are elite-level fighters, and four are former champions. Charles Oliveira went on to become the UFC lightweight champion while Aldo is the former featherweight champion, and both Pettis and Edgar are former holders of the lightweight title. However, some of Holloway's wins have asterixes.
#OnThisDay in 2012 Jose Aldo defended his UFC belt in Brazil for the first time with a last-second KO of Chad Mendes and charged into the crowd to celebrate.
Incredible scenes! 🇧🇷
https://t.co/Hm5rXMFcNR
Anthony Pettis was a fighter that MMA passed by at that point in his career. He was 1-3 in his last four fights by the time he faced Holloway. The loss to Holloway became one of many he suffered moving forward as he struggled to string wins together, winning one bout before losing the next.
It was only four years after the Holloway loss that Pettis managed to win two fights in a row. One of the opponents he faced was Donald Cerrone, who was 0-4 in his last four fights at the time and has not won a fight since. Charles Oliveira is not the same fighter at lightweight that he was at featherweight.
At featherweight in the UFC, Oliveira is 7-5, having missed weight four times and losing to Holloway due to an esophagus injury.
Similarly, when Holloway fought Frankie Edgar, he was on the decline and was 3-2 by the time the two locked horns. Edgar has gone 1-3 after the Holloway loss.
Jose Aldo, on the other hand, defeated Cub Swanson, Chad Mendes, Frankie Edgar, Chan Sung Jung, Ricardo Lamas, Urijah Faber, Kenny Florian, Jeremy Stephens, and Renato Moicano when they were all in the prime of their careers.