One of the biggest examples of an individual who made it even after having a traumatic childhood is UFC featherweight star Max Holloway. His journey started from the shores of Hawaii and now has reached the global stage of UFC. But by no means was it a smooth ride.

Since childhood, he has known the words resilience, and determination like the back of his hand. He was born Jerome Max Kelii Holloway On December 4 1991 in Honolulu Hawaii. The #2 ranked featherweight who is also known as ‘Blessed’ was not named this just for the sake of it. He was shaped by adverse challenges in his childhood environment. Raised in Waianae, a neighborhood known for its rough reputation, he confronted a lot of harsh realities from a young age. And all of this started with his parents. His life is full of adversities and triggers but still, this is a trigger warning for the readers to proceed only if they are ready to read about the traumatic childhood that made this UFC star who he is today.

All we know about Max Holloway’s mother and father

Missy Kapoi and Mark Holloway are the ones who gave birth to the UFC star, however, they had their demons that they were fighting while also raising a child. Unfortunately both his parents were heavy dr*g users. Fortunately, his mother later recovered. His father on the other hand was harsh and abused his mother as well as him and his brothers, and left the family when Max Holloway was 11 years old. Yet, despite these daunting circumstances, he found power and solace in martial arts as well as his hero-his grandmother Cynthia Kapoi.

Holloway has always been pretty vocal about his upbringing and the traumatic childhood that he faced. There is a video on Facebook of young ‘Blessed’  talking about how his mother got addicted to dr*gs while getting abused by his father. He said, “My mom and my dad I knew they were just heavy dr*g users, and then. Dad would always beat my mom I think so the dr*gs were like her medicine that would calm her stress. That is why she noticed our lives; She put our lives in front of hers And gave us to our grandma she did not give up on us So that pushed me not to give up anything. The last time I saw my dad was probably 10 or 11 years old And then I never saw him after that. I still pray for him but like he has no use in my life anymore.”

At such a young age he knew the significance of not giving up. And he stuck to his views which has made him one of the most dangerous featherweight contenders at UFC today. So let’s see a little bit more about his childhood and how he slowly climbed the mountain towards glory.

More about Max Holloway’s early life and childhood

He started training in Kickboxing when he was 15 years old and channeled all his pain and anger into combat sports. His natural talent and tenacity had already set him apart and he soon began making waves in the local fight scenario. Holloway even narrated to UFC once how he started training. He said, “I started training at the end of my sophomore year in high school in 2007. I started training because one of my best friends that I met in that grade – Josh Keanu – told me I should train with him. I slept over at his house one night and his trainer was there too. The trainer watched me hitting the speed bag and said I should come to training. So I did and the rest is history.”

‘Blessed’ has spoken a lot about his childhood in various interviews and podcasts and how it motivated him in mixed martial arts. On a recent episode of the MMA Hour, he even thanked Israel Adesanya for his documentary ‘Stylebender’ which helped the 26-victory fighter realize the nuances of his mental health.

While speaking to Ariel Helwani he described his childhood where his father was not a part of his life. He also explained how he did not want the same for his son. “I did not have both of them. I did not have a dad at all,” Holloway said. “And it was funny, it took my wife to explain to me, ‘Yeah, you had father figures, but that’s not the same.’ My grandpa was my father figure. She had a hard time explaining it. He’s like me, dad! ‘But he’s not! He’s still your grandpa.’ And it finally hit me, he was a father figure, but he wasn’t my actual father. So if I can give my son a father and mother, it would be great.”

However since he has had closure with the things he faced and has come out victorious, now he is proceeding to fight Ilia Topuria at UFC 308. This should not be as difficult for him since he has already faced more than an octagon fight in his childhood. So do you think ‘Blessed’ can win this bout just like he won through the hardships as a young man?