Every mixed martial artist hopes to make it to the UFC one day. This is why some might find it strange that up-and-coming undefeated 145lbs star Austin Bashi turned down a few opportunities to join the Dana White-led MMA juggernaut. But, this was part of the hyped featherweight prospect’s plan. After all, he wanted to ‘be ready’ and make sure he was good enough to perform in the toughest, most competitive MMA promotion in the world. Thankfully, earlier this year, at the age of 22, he finally decided he was ready and went on Dana White‘s Contender Series.

There he manhandled Dorian Ramos, submitting him in the second round to earn himself a UFC contract. Moreover, Bashi will face unranked featherweight Christian Rodriguez on a Fight Night card next month in his promotional debut. However, the former two-promotion champion already has his eyes set on fighting a UFC champ, as Bashi revealed in an Exclusive ES interview. “Is there any legends or people that you really look up to that you’d love to fight just out of respect?” Bashi was asked by our own Andrew Whitelaw.

To which, the featherweight picked reigning BMF champion and UFC legend, Max Holloway. Why? We’ll let Bashi explain. “Um, I would say it’s Max Holloway, you know, another legend, another featherweight legend. He’s done it all, you know, he’s had some crazy crazy fights and he’s been in some fun fights,” the featherweight prospect said.

Indeed, Holloway is perhaps the most exciting fighter at 145lbs (and now 155lbs), having had an absolute banger of a fight with Justin Gaethje at UFC 300 this April. But for now, a barn burner against ‘Blessed’ is quite far for Bashi since he has not even made his UFC debut yet. But if the featherweight prospect is indeed as good as many think he is, the bout may go down sooner rather than later. Especially since the pure striker Holloway would be a great matchup for the newcomer.

Austin Bashi weighs in on the similarity in fighting style to another UFC Champ

Austin Bashi comes into MMA with a wrestling base. This is not to say that his striking skills are lacking in any way. The DWCS alumni has a pretty well-rounded game, with nearly a quarter of his victories coming via knockout. But, it cannot be denied that the Michigan native’s strongest suit is his ground game, with five of his twelve pro-MMA victories coming via submission.

In fact, when asked which fighter he identified with and if he saw himself in any other well-known UFC star, Bashi had a clear answer. “You know, I kinda compare myself to I would say Merab [Dvalishvili],” the featherweight said in his exclusive ES interview before going on to explain why he picked the bantamweight champ.

“Very very high pace and he’s never getting tired, he’s always literally on the gas the whole entire fight, the whole entire twenty-five minutes. So that’s who I would say,” Bashi added. Merab Dvalishvili‘s nickname, of course, is ‘The Machine’ precisely because of the Georgian’s unstoppable, untiring, constantly-on-the-attack fighting style.

And if Bashi can prove himself to be half the fighter Dvalishvili is, he will have a very very bright future in the UFC. What do you think about Austin Bashi’s comments about Max Holloway and Merab Dvalishvili?