Former UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway spoke to Phil Murphy from ESPN ahead of his match-up on January 23, 2021. ‘Blessed’ takes on Calvin Kattar in what is sure to be an exciting contest that also has high stakes. Holloway is coming off a controversial loss to Alexander Volkanovski in his last outing and will be keen to make a comeback.
Max Holloway was asked about the advantages that he believes he possesses going into a fight against Kattar. The Hawaiian fighter has been in title fights for nearly five years and has exclusively faced hefty opposition. Calvin Kattar wasn’t even in the UFC by the time Holloway first began to fight in five-round match-ups.
Max Holloway speaks out on having a perceived advantage
ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below this ad
Holloway remained quite straightforward in his approach when talking about any edge he might have. The former champion explained that this was just another five-round contest and differed slightly from his previous endeavors.
ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below this ad
“It’s not that different to be quite honest. If I’m telling you the truth, it’s not different at all. It’s still five rounds, I mean, like I said the title is just a title. The title was just to let everyone else know I’m a champion. This is basically a title fight, we have five-fives, my mindsets no different at all. I got 25 minutes to go out there, have fun, do work, and figure out a way to get the job done. That’s what I plan on doing.”
Additionally, the fan-favorite striker explained that there were plenty of unknown factors when facing someone like Kattar.
ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below this ad
“The beautiful thing is I don’t know if it gives me anything [advantage] to be honest. I mean, I got extra 10 minutes for sure, that’s the thing outside looking in. To be honest, we don’t know. We’ll see. We get to see, we get to find out in nine days, Saturday.”
Time will be the best sign of whether Holloway’s experience will play a role in his upcoming contest. The Bostonian in Calvin Kattar comes from an elite camp and will certainly be ready to have the kitchen sink thrown at him.