Max Holloway Journey back to the title

Two wins and two Fight of the Night bonuses put him back at Volkanovski, who himself had defeated Brian Ortega and The Korean Zombie since their rematch. It was for naught, however, as Volkanovski came out in perhaps the best form of his career, dominating Holloway for 25 minutes and earning the clean decision on all three scorecards.

A third loss to the same man could discourage most fighters, but ‘Blessed’ seemed to move on without a hitch. It was ranked lower again for his next fight, a main event against Arnold Allen in April 2023, who had not lost in the Octagon at that point. Holloway adopted the “still here” motto in the build-up to the fight, hoping to once again remind people that he was one of the best featherweights in the world.

UFC 308 embedded | MMA coaches break Holloway out against Topuria this Saturday

While it wasn’t the dominant effort he had against Kattar, Holloway was quite deliberate in his approach to Allen. He managed distance, increased his volume as the fight grew and essentially smothered any attack Allen hoped he could muster. When Allen charged forward in the fifth round, Holloway was happy to oblige, scoring a quick knockdown as the final seconds ticked away. The fight was Holloway’s first headliner in the United States since beating José Aldo for a second time in Detroit, and as the Hawaiian flags flew in Kansas City, Holloway proved he was still very much in the mix and with both feet in the fight stood for another run at the title.

Four months later, with Volkanovski taking a detour to lightweight before defeating Yair Rodriguez in another featherweight title defense, Holloway flew to Singapore to face The Korean Zombie. Emotions flowed heavily that night and in the days leading up to the battle as Holloway expressed concern about the devastating fire that hit the island of Maui that week. UFC allowed Holloway to walk out with the state flag of Hawaii, and he delivered another epic performance. After a few rounds on the front foot, Holloway had to weather the storm of the oncoming Zombie to open the third round. When Korea’s top mixed martial artist called on him, Holloway planted an overhand right to his opponent’s forehead for his first finish since December 2018. The fight would ultimately be the Korean Zombie’s last fight.