Max Holloway suffered his first knockout loss after 14 years of fighting mixed martial arts – a feat enviable by many. In fact, ‘Blessed’ lost via finish only twice in his career – by Dustin Poirier via submission in his UFC debut, and the other at the hands of Ilia Topuria. Both these finishes happened at featherweight, along with three losses to ex-champ Alexander Volkanovski. Having new-found success at 115-lbs, the logical step for Holloway would be to pursue the lightweight title – at least Michael Bisping thinks so.
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In the midst of his neck surgery, ‘The Count’ found time to talk about the future of ‘Blessed’ on the ‘Believe You Me’ podcast. While acknowledging that Holloway’s time at 145-lbs is up, Bisping thinks the ex-champ still has a shot at lightweight greatness – “It’s the perfect plan – A hundred and fifty five pounds. He’s not done, I think he’s still like 32 if I’m not mistaken. [He’s] 32-years old, had an incredible run at featherweight. He’s made plenty of money. He’s a legend of the sport. He’s a great guy. Everyone loves Max Holloway – 145 [lbs], the time is done. That ship has sailed.”
Max Holloway has competed at lightweight twice, and competed for the belt both those times. His first stint at lightweight was at UFC 236 against Dustin Poirier for the interim lightweight title. Although he lost the bout via decision, he made it a hard-earned victory for ‘The Diamond’. In his second lightweight stint, he knocked out Justin Gaethje for the BMF belt at UFC 300.
There also was a time, Holloway was going to compete against Khabib Nurmagomedov for the vacant lightweight title. He couldn’t make the fight due to complications from a last minute weight cut. One can make the inference from all these events that Max Holloway can definitely find success at 155 pounds.
“Move on, you’re getting older” – Michael Bisping’s advice to Max Holloway
It’s hard to believe that Max Holloway is just 32 (turning 33 in December), given that he’s been with the UFC for 12 years now. Within 12 years, Holloway became featherweight champion, BMF champion, and even fought for the interim lightweight championship. Despite being 33, it seems like Holloway can find success at lightweight, should he choose to stay there.
On the same podcast, co-host Mike Harrington touched upon a very important point about fighters in lighter weight classes. Bisping and Harrington both agree that the window for lighter weight category fighters is more than their heavyweight counterparts. Here’s what Harrington said, “The wall for these lighter weight guys seems to be 35. So, that’s still three long years in this sport.”
Furthermore, Harrington also acknowledged Holloway’s bid to take time off from fighting until July 2025. Michael Bisping seems like he’s all for it, urging ‘Blessed’ to find a home at lightweight – “Move on, you’re getting older. The weight cut’s tougher. You’ve had a couple of losses. You almost became the champion again. You looked incredible against Justin Gaethje. You took his shots. You knocked him out cold. He’s ranked #3 at lightweight. Holloway is #5. Step into that, there’s a lot of fun fights at 155-lbs.”
What do you think of Michael Bisping’s assessment of Max Holloway? Do you think ‘Blessed’ should chase a title at lightweight? Let us know in the comments below.
