After UFC on ABC 1 win, Max Holloway wants in on Khabib Nurmagomedov sweepstakes

ABU DHABI – Max Holloway is throwing his name into the hat.

Following his dominant UFC on ABC 1 unanimous decision win over Calvin Kattar, Holloway (22-6 MMA, 18-6 UFC) expressed interest in serving as a backup fighter for the UFC 257 pay-per-view next Saturday.

UFC lightweight contenders Conor McGregor, Dustin Poirier, Michael Chandler, and Dan Hooker are all set to compete at the event – four of the five competitors Nurmagomedov (29-0 MMA, 13-0 UFC) recently expressed potential interest in coming out of retirement to fight.

While Holloway wants to be in the discussion, UFC president Dana White, on the other hand, is less keen on the idea.

“I think he deserves to go home and take some time off,” White said at the UFC on ABC 1 post-fight news conference. “I respect it, but yeah, we’re good. We’re covered.”

Despite his boss not liking the idea, Holloway insists he’s sticking around on “Fight Island” and will be ready if needed. In MMA, unforeseen circumstances are not unusual – and Holloway hopes to capitalize should one arise.

“I’m here until next week. If something happens in this crazy, wild sport, don’t be surprised, man,” Holloway said. “Tune in next week to a huge pay-per-view. There’s a bunch of surprises happening.”

Holloway has a history with Nurmagomedov. In 2018, Holloway was briefly paired with Nurmagomedov as a short-notice replacement for Tony Ferguson at UFC 223. However, Holloway was forced to withdraw during fight week, and the bout never came to fruition.

“We’ll see what happens, even with Khabib, you know?” Holloway said. “Khabib is saying that he wants something that’s super interesting. Maybe I pushed him over the edge a little bit. We had one of the best press conferences in the world, I think. We just didn’t have the fight. We could fill that in if he wanted to.”

If Holloway’s aspirations for a Nurmagomedov fight hit a wall, a trilogy with UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski is likely in the cards, according to White, should the champ get past Brian Ortega in March.

Holloway and Volkanovski, have faced off twice before – with Volkanovski (22-1 MMA, 9-0 UFC) winning a unanimous decision and a split decision. Holloway doesn’t take lightly to Volkanovski’s distaste for a third meeting.

“Volkanovski said – this is his words not mine – he said he wants a different fight. He doesn’t want a tougher fight, guys,” Holloway said. “Let that sink in: He wants a different fight. He didn’t say, ‘I want a tougher challenge.’ He knows who the toughest challenge is. He knows it’s me. At the end of the day, I’m not going to force somebody to fight me. I’m going to stay ready and do whatever I’ve got to do and just be ready.”