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Current BMF champ Max Holloway is gunning for a second reign of the featherweight division as he challenges Ilia Topuria for the belt at UFC 308 next month.
Ahead of his massive battle with 'El Matador', 'Blessed' sat down with ESPN MMA's Brett Okamoto to discuss the recent trajectory of his career, amongst many things. In his most recent performance, the fighting Hawaiian produced the undisputed Knockout of the Year at UFC 300 last April.
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The KO, which happened literally one second before the fight ended, won Holloway both Performance of the Night and Fight of the Night, which earned him a total of $600,000 that night.
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On how UFC 300 changed his celebrity status from former MMA champion to bonafide household name, Max Holloway said:
"For sure, 100%, you know. I mean right after the fight Dana White literally pulled me when I was walking out of the we was in the back in the locker rooms, he pulled me into one room. He pulled me and my wife and he's like, 'Kid you have no idea how much your life is gonna change, man. Just watch.' And he was right. It was crazy, you know? Moments like that...we can't live forever but you wanna make moments that can live forever and I think that moment is going to be around for quite some time."
Watch what Max Holloway said here (1:13):
Max Holloway on getting another shot at gold: "I was going to be undeniable"
In the interview, Okamoto brushed on the idea that fans, pundits, and perhaps even fellow fighters doubted Max Holloway's ability to get back into title contention.
When asked what it feels like to prove his doubters wrong, 'Blessed' said:
"All we had to do even after the [Alexander] Volk III fight was keep winning. And the word was, I keep telling you before, was 'undeniable'. Be undeniable. That's all we had to do and a lot of people laughed at me...But I knew how good I was. I know what I had to do. I'm not scared of hard work. Like I said, you guys know my story." [3:16 in the aforementioned video]
He added:
"At the end of the day, things happen for a reason. And you tell me that I wasn't gonna be back in this situation, even if Volk was here, you're crazy. Because I was gonna be undeniable."
