Max Holloway explains why he needs to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov for his legacy

Max Holloway and Khabib Nurmagomedov have been close to sharing the Octagon two times already. Yet, both times it never came to fruition.

At UFC 223, Holloway was stepping up on short notice to take on the undefeated Dagestani lightweight champion. However, on fight week he was pulled by the New York State Athletic Commission. Then, at UFC 236, all he needed to do was beat Dustin Poirier to get the shot at Nurmagomedov. Unfortunately, he lost by decision.

Although Max Holloway had a failed bid at lightweight, he says he will 100 percent fight there again. But, first, his focus is on Alex Volkanovski. Then after that, he wants the Khabib Nurmagomedov fight to secure his legacy as a pound-for-pound great.

“Oh for sure. I am not in any way any means looking over Alex, I don’t look over any of my opponents to be quite honest,” Max Holloway said on Sirius XM. “You can’t do that in this day in age, everybody is too well-rounded, everybody is too good. But if you want to be the number one pound-for-pound guy that’s the guy. He is undefeated, he is the man. He is one weight class higher than me. I can’t wait. That’s one of the fights that’s definitely gonna be, everyone keeps asking me, Max get back to 155 why don’t you go? It’s coming, it’s gonna happen.”

“I just got an obligation and I got a contract. I’m the 145 champ. I don’t want everybody down here sitting and waiting for me. At the end of the day when ’55 happens, it happens. Right now, we are defending the belt. But I hope Khabib is there when I am there, cause that’s a big fight. He is number one pound for pound fighter in the world. That is the kind of fight when I think about it that kind of fight excites me a lot.”

Whether or not the two will ever fight is to be seen. But, Max Holloway hopes he can share the Octagon one day with Khabib Nurmagomedov.

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This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 10/9/2019. 

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