Former featherweight champion and current BMF titleholder Max Holloway‘s fighting future is in the lightweight division. “Blessed” is ranked No. 3 in the 155-pound division.
He won the symbolic BMF belt by knocking out Justin Geathje at UFC 300 in April 2024 and successfully defended it against Dustin Poirier at UFC 318 on July 19.
Sandwiched between the wins over Gaethje and Poirier, Holloway lost a featherweight title bout against then-champion Ilia Topuria by knockout. After becoming the first fighter to knock Holloway out, Topuria moved up to the lightweight division and captured the 155-pound championship.
There’s no shortage of fighters calling for a title shot against Topuria. Top contender Arman Tsarukyan wants the fight. No. 4 ranked Gaethje is ready to retire if he doesn’t get a title shot. Topuria has history with rising star Paddy Pimblett. For Holloway, if he gets the title shot, it will not be until 2026.
“I see a lot of people talking about who is next, who’s this. There’s a lot of fun fights for me at 155: There’s [Charles] Oliveira. If Justin [Gaethje] gets the next title shot, that would be cool. If I get the next title shot, that would be sick, but if you have hopes of me fighting before the end of the year, it’s probably not going to happen,” Holloway said on his YouTube channel.
“I see a specialist sometimes this week. I already met with my doctor. Now I’ve got to go meet the specialist but things are not looking too up for me fighting one more time this year,” continued Holloway.
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Holloway plans to spend some time off with family and doesn’t know what’s next for him inside the octagon.
“I’m excited for the future, but what’s next, I couldn’t tell you,” Holloway said. “Now this stupid injury pushed me back a little bit, so we don’t know what’s going to happen.”
“Now there’s a wrench in our plans because of this injury, but whatever. We get to see how it plays out now, and I’m excited to see. There’s a lot of fun fights, a lot of big fights.”
