Of all the epic moments in Max Holloway’s mixed martial arts career, beating the ‘King of Rio’ on his home turf tops the list.
In a matter of hours, ‘Blessed’ will attempt to create another memorable moment when he headlines UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi, challenging the promotion’s reigning and defending featherweight world champion, Ilia Topuria. It will be Holloway’s 10th title fight under the UFC banner, but even if he recaptures gold in the UAE, it won’t top the feeling of beating perhaps the greatest featherweight the sport has ever seen.
“It means a lot. There’s a saying I always heard: train till your idols become your rivals,” Holloway said in an interview with TNT Sports. Jose Aldo was an idol, even after our fights. There’s no better feeling than fighting the King of Rio in Rio and doing what I did.
“I remember after the fight, there was not one sound in the audience. Just silence. This will be my number one MMA moment, no matter what.”
Despite underdog status, Max Holloway is determined to kickstart a new title reign at UFC 308
Holloway unified the interim and undisputed featherweight titles against Aldo in Rio de Janeiro at UFC 212 on June 3, 2017. He would go on to defend the title three times, besting ‘Junior’ in a rematch before scoring wins against Brian Ortega and Frankie Edgar.
He later dropped the belt against Alexander Volkanovski but has never strayed very far from the title picture. In April, Holloway delivered yet another iconic Octagon moment when he scored a buzzer-beating KO against Justin Gaethje at UFC 300 to win the BMF title.
‘Blessed’ will attempt to do what no man has been able to thus far and hand Topuria his first career loss. Thus far, ‘El Matador’ is a perfect 15-0 and is an almost 3-to-1 favorite to come out on top against Holloway at Etihad Arena.
