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‘Thinking of Dana White’- After 7 Years, Ex-UFC Champ Max Holloway Gets Emotions Recalling His Title Winning Moment

Published 12/31/2023, 9:42 AM EST

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Max Holloway would probably be one of the greatest UFC featherweight of all time, if not for his three losses to Alexander Volkanovski. Over the last decade, Holloway has fought the biggest names, such as Conor McGregor, Charles Oliveira, and Dustin Poirier, in the lighter divisions of the UFC.

‘Blessed’ sat down with the UFC production team to break down the momentous moments of his UFC career which has spanned over ten years and a surprising 28 fights on the latest episode of ‘Year of the Fighter’ of their official YouTube channel. In this article, we take a look at one particular moment that made the featherweight emotional.

Max Holloway gets emotional reminiscing his title win

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Max Holloway defeated Anthony Pettis in the third round of their UFC 206 encounter back in 2016 to become the interim featherweight champion of the UFC. ‘Blessed’ went on to defeat Jose Aldo in his next fight at UFC 212 to unify the title and become the undisputed champion.

The 32-year-old could not hold back tears when breaking down the Pettis bout, an indication of exactly how much-becoming champion meant to him. Holloway admitted that becoming the champion was a dream come true for him, as he had been visualizing the moment every day after training.

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“Felt crazy. You dream of this moment, like I don’t even envision the moment of me winning a belt at the gym. It’s me driving home after a long training, it’s me just by myself at home in my room. And then you just close your eyes and you just envision Bruce Buffer and this moment that you just envision and envision and envision at times when you’re by yourself,” an emotional Holloway said.

‘Blessed’ shared that UFC CEO Dana White putting the championship belt around his waist was an out-of-body experience for him and that he was still affected by how overwhelming that moment was. “And just thinking of that feeling, you’re thinking of Dana White putting that around your waist kind of like an out of body [experience], like I felt like I was someone in the crowd watching me get it, and it’s just a crazy feeling it was just insane to be there in the moment,” he added. Holloway seems to be on the cusp of another title shot if Chael Sonnen is to be believed.

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Chael Sonnen claims Holloway will fight for the BMF title next

Verbose UFC analyst Chael Sonnen seems to think that Holloway will take on BMF champion Justin Gaethje for the latter’s ceremonial title at the UFC 300 anniversary card. This is good news for ‘Blessed’, who had earlier expressed a desire to take on ‘The Human Highlight’ for his BMF title.

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However, the one major problem for Holloway if this fight goes ahead is the weight class. Gaethje fights in the 155-pound limit lightweight division, while Holloway fights in the 145-pound featherweight division. The fight would most probably be at lightweight, putting Holloway at an inherent disadvantage. However, until it is announced by the UFC, this fight is still in the realm of conjecture.

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Written by:

Kanishk Thakur

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Hi, I am Kanishk and I am a UFC Writer at EssentiallySports. I love telling the stories of these magnificent fighters and this wildly unpredictable sport that is so frustrating and yet so joyous at the same time. I never really used to watch MMA, thinking it too crude or brutal a sport to deserve respect.
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Edited by:

Abhishek Kumar Das