After falling short in his pursuit of reclaiming the UFC featherweight title, Max Holloway has provided a huge update regarding his future.
Holloway is and will always be one of the greatest fighters to ever grace the sport of mixed martial arts. His legacy at 145 lbs is among the very best in the division’s history, but he will no longer be adding to that.
As confirmed by the man himself, Max Holloway revealed that his time as one of the best featherweights on the planet has come to an end.
The 33-year-old discussed his future during a new YouTube video, first thinking back to his defeat at the hands of Ilia Topuria.
“It is what it is, right,” Holloway said. “At the end of the day, no excuses, man…”
“I felt good, I felt great. Camp went great. [I was] injury free. The cut went great. A lot of people thought I was up on the scorecards before that left hook from hell landed…”
“Ilia was just the better man that night. That’s just it, he was the better man that night. It was his night and hats off to him…”
“It leaves a taste in a lot of people’s mouths for a long time, until I can erase it.”
“Until I get the shot to erase it, we got to live with it, man.”
‘Blessed’ later gave some surprising insight on what’s next for his career.
“The big question right now is: Was that your last fight at 145?”
“I can honestly say, I think I’m done with 145. Your boy is, like I said, we’re only getting older…”
“No excuses, this cut was easy… But it takes a toll cutting weight, period… Like I said, I had to give up Ramen for my ’45 camps so I’m done with that.”
“I don’t ever want to give up Ramen again. 155 here we come and 155 is where I’m going to stay.”
“This is a new chapter. This is where we start, this is where we begin, and I’m super excited for it.”
Max Holloway then confirmed that, while you should never say never, a return to featherweight is highly unlikely.
“Never say never but I can honestly look you guys in the eyes and tell you guys, I’m probably not ever going back to ’45.”
“I loved what I did. I did what I did. You know, I did what I had to do there. I worked my way back, I clawed my way back up to the championship fight multiple times there.”
“I was the champion, I defended at that weight, [but] now it’s time to move on to the next chapter.”
Watch Max Holloway discuss his UFC future below.
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Holloway is no stranger to 155, having fought several times in the weight class.
His most recent dive into the division saw the Hawaiian put his name in the hat for Knockout of the Year when he finished former interim lightweight champion Justin Gaethje at UFC 300.
Going forward, Holloway remains the BMF champion and has a handful of potential opponents that would make for must-see TV.