#5 Max Holloway
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While Conor Mcgregor rose to fame in emphatic fashion, knocking out long-time champ Jose Aldo in just 13 seconds, never to return to the Featherweight division, a young and extremely malleable Max Holloway silently put in the hours to make his own rise to the top of the heap.
Previously having fought Mcgregor and being the only man before Nate Diaz to stretch him out to a decision victory, Holloway earned a tonne of respect despite being on the losing end against Mcgregor.
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Never the one to trash talk his way to title shots or call fighters out, Holloway built his nine-fight winning streak after the Mcgregor loss, one fight at a time. Concentrating on the task at hand and finding a way to win, not caring much about the method to do so.
This lack of speciality and fluid adaptability then paradoxically shot Holloway to fame and he quickly found himself competing against the elite.
Submitting the veteran and Jiu Jitsu black belt Cub Swanson, stopping submission specialist Charles Oliviera, out striking a dangerous striker and knockout artist in Jeremy Stephens and then going on to become the first person to stop former Lightweight king Anthony Pettis with strikes, Holloway is only one step away from being the undisputed Featherweight king in the UFC.
A feat that is not particularly unrealistic now considering the numbers. Thrown in the fire in his UFC debut with only a 4-0 record, Max Holloway has more wins in the UFC than Jose Aldo or Conor Mcgregor has fights. At only 25 years of age, Holloway has become a veteran in his own right and finds no end to still improving his skills in the arts.
What is peculiar about Holloway is that he is not necessarily a knockout artist or a submission specialist, or even a traditional martial artist guy but simply a martial artist that utilises movement (the most important trait to have as a next generation Mixed Martial Artist) in all its permutations and combinations to support his strengths.
‘This makes the fights that Holloway is involved in extremely entertaining to watch as there is no limitation as to how he can or will finish the fight.
‘Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change.’ - Stephen Hawking
If this is the case then we have a gem on our hands with Max Holloway, a fighter who is still in the infancy of his career and is already a step away from the pinnacle of the sport.
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