Max Holloway delivered one of his best performances in his fight against Arnold Allen at the UFC on ESPN 44 last weekend. He defeated the British fighter via a unanimous decision and showed the UFC fans that he still has a lot to offer in the sport of MMA. American referee and commentator John McCarthy discussed with retired fighter Josh Thomson how ‘Blessed’ unusually stuck to his game plan against Arnold Allen.

Holloway inched a step closer to fighting for the title after bouncing back from a defeat in his last outing. He now has three wins in his last four fights. However, as UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier pointed out, the former featherweight champion appeared to be much calmer during the fight against Arnold Allen than he has ever been in his previous fights. It surprised many people.

It impressed John McCarthy to see Max Holloway sticking to his game plan

John McCarthy and Josh Thomson recently posted another episode of their podcast, ‘Weighing In’, and reviewed last weekend’s UFC event. The famed MMA referee and occasional commentator mentioned that Holloway surprised him with his calm demeanor and sticking to the game plan throughout the whole fight. He said, “I do have to look at his [Holloway’s]performance against Arnold Allen and I’m super impressed that he stuck to his game plan.”

McCarthy mentioned how his Hawaiian nature comes into play during the fight. He added, “Max, Sometimes, he’s got that Hawaiian warrior spirit. He wants to just throw down.” The famed MMA referee reminisced about Holloway’s UFC 199 performance. The former champion threw a flurry of punches in the last ten seconds, which has now become an iconic UFC moment. “He [Holloway] beat Ricardo Lamas every minute of that fight and in the last ten seconds of the third round, he points to the center and says ‘Let’s set out feet in a sling.” 

McCarthy and Thomson believe that ‘Blessed’ was more focused this time around

The podcast hosts talked about how the wild punch-throwing mentality defines Max Holloway as a fighter. But he was a much more focused competitor this time against Arnold Allen. Thomson said, “He wasn’t doing that [throwing caution to the wind] tonight. And that’s my point, the focus.”

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He added, “The focus was a lot different tonight. The focus was ‘get myself back on track, stay the course and the courses to get back to the title.’ And you can see that from his walkout.” Thomson mentions that Holloway looked sharp and focused even before he entered the octagon.

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Max Holloway has proved himself to be still a credible contender to challenge for the featherweight title with the impressive win over Arnold Allen. We will have to wait and see what step he takes next.

What are your thoughts on Max Holloway’s performance? Let us know in the comments down below.

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