Max Holloway's coach insists that 'Blessed' is "operating on this other level" for trilogy fight against Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 276

Max Holloway has a tough challenge in front of him at UFC 276 when he takes on Alexander Volkanovski, a man who has already beaten him twice in the octagon. Fortunately, 'Blessed' is coming into the trilogy fight better than ever.

Holloway's coach Ivan Flores discussed his fighter's headset and skillset coming into this pivotal featherweight title fight in Las Vegas. In the latest episode of UFC 276 Embedded, he said:

"With any athlete, the job is to get better between each fight and so forth, but with Max, he's always been ahead of the curve and learns things a little fast. Between every fight we're always getting better. But this past camp, he's been operating on this other level. He still has it, that killer instinct, and in fact I feel like it's had time to kind of revive. The motivation is purely wanting to be the best and showing he's the best."

Watch the full UFC Embedded Ep. 2 below:

Max Holloway's second fight against Alexander Volkanovski was an even closer decision than the first, and saw 'Blessed' lose via split decision. One more round going his way on one more judges' scorecard and Holloway would have reclaimed the belt he held onto for three years.

Since losing to Alexander Volkanovski for the second time, Holloway has gone on to beat Calvin Kattar in a decision so dominant it generated 50-43, 50-43, and 50-52 scores. A solid win over Yair Rodriguez may not have been as one-sided, but it did make many fans' shortlist for fight of the year.

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Max Holloway has "unfinished business" with Charles Oliveira at lightweight

Nearly seven years ago, Max Holloway and Charles Oliveira fought in the main event of a UFC Fight Night held in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Unfortunately for the fighters and the fans, the bout never really got started before it ended. Charles Oliveira got a tear in his esophagus while attempting a takedown just under two minutes into the first round.

Max Holloway was declared the winner, but 'Blessed' still wants to test himself against Oliveira properly.

"He and I know that we have unfinished business since like forever [because of how the first fight went] so we'll see what happens. It'd be an honor to share the octagon again and like I said, Alex is on the other side talking about it, so if we get it done July 2nd, who knows? Dana White's saying stuff like 'Alexander, whatever he wants,' so we'll find out July 2nd what Max wants and gets."

As Holloway mentioned, Alexander Volkanovski has stated he plans on going for double-champ glory against Charles Oliveira should he get past 'Blessed' at UFC 276. If Max Holloway wins on Saturday night, the more likely next fight for him may be a fourth bout against Volkanovski.