Max Holloway says he’ll fight Conor McGregor at ‘heavyweight’ to get rematch
LOS ANGELES -- Like any fighter worth his salt, Max Holloway wants another crack at the fighters who have handed him defeat.
Holloway (16-3) will look for his 10th consecutive victory when he meets Anthony Pettis in the five-round main event of UFC 206 on Dec. 10 in Toronto.
The last fighter to hand the featherweight phenom a loss? That would be Conor McGregor, who defeated Holloway via unanimous decision in 2013.
McGregor, of course, was just stripped of his UFC featherweight title, two weeks after knocking out Eddie Alvarez to win the UFC lightweight belt.
Which means Holloway, who has ascended the ranks at 145 pounds, might have to chase McGregor to another division get the rematch.
“First things first, I’ve got Pettis,” Holloway said Friday. “But you know, a McGregor fight can happen anyway. He said 155, 170, I recently said I’ll go ahead and fight heavyweight if he wants to fight heavyweight.”
He’s exaggerating, of course. But unlike newly installed featherweight champion Jose Aldo, who threatened to retire when he was passed over for a 145-pound rematch with McGregor, Holloway says he he’d have no problem going up to 155 pounds and following McGregor to his new division if that’s what it takes.
“My birthday is in a couple days,” Holloway said. “I’m 25. My body is growing. You know? The plan is to kill everybody, take out all the contenders, no whining. When I get my title shot, I get my shot. Take down [opponents] and ask whose next and see what happens ... I’m Hawaiian, I’m Polynesian, us boys can get big, so we’ll see what happens.”
At the same time, you’re not going to catch Holloway disrespecting McGregor’s accomplishments. While McGregor’s pursuit of two titles bottled up the featherweight division for awhile, Holloway says that he would have done the exact same thing McGregor did if he was given the same opportunity.
And that he plans on creating such an opportunity for himself.
“I would love to do that,” Holloway said of repeated McGregor’s two-title feat. “Everybody hates on this guy. For what? If you had this opportunity, you know damn straight that you’d take it. If I had the opportunity, yes, it’s history. I want to break history. Like I said before, Conor McGregor set this bar and I’m trying to break it. If you’re not trying to break it, then why are you in the game/ I’m not trying to be this guy just chugging along, I want to lead the pack. If I got this opportunity you’re damn straight I want to fight for two, give me three. Let’s make history.”