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ABU DHABI – Max Holloway knows his work in the Octagon is the only way to get back to gold ahead of Saturday’s UFC on the headliner of ABC 1.
Longtime former UFC featherweight champion Holloway (21-6 MMA, 17-6 UFC) is in his first untitled fight since June 2016 this weekend when he faces off against Calvin Kattar (22-4 MMA, 6-2 UFC) in a main event match.
After losing back-to-back title fights to defending 145-pound champion Alexander Volkanovski, Holloway is looking to find a way to reclaim his place atop the mountain. It’s not often that fighters have a third chance when they’ve lost to one person twice, but Holloway said a meeting with UFC President Dana White before agreeing to the game with Kattar gave him had given a better idea of his trip.
“We just want to see what was going on, what the road was like, and he pretty much said what he said,” Holloway told MMA Junkie on Wednesday. “He said, ‘Go over there and keep working, kid, and we’ll see what happens (for a title shot).’ We will find out. We always do. All I can control is what I do in the octagon, and come on Saturday night, I’m going to go do my job and then I have a manager to control all these things outside of the octagon. He’s gonna have to do his job after Saturday night, but first of all I have to go over there and do my thing and show the world what’s going on.
UFC on ABC 1 takes place at Etihad Arena. Holloway vs. Kattar headlines the Main Card, which airs on ABC and airs on ESPN + after preliminaries on ESPN +.
Although Holloway’s recent record shows three losses in his last four fights, he knows each was competitive and in the title fights. Still, some have speculated whether Kattar’s game was a crossroads contest.
Holloway said he didn’t see it that way. In fact, he sees the upcoming fight with Kattar as a new beginning.
“I’m 0-0 no matter what,” Holloway said. “It is what it is. Calvin is a very dangerous guy. I can’t go too far. He is standing in front of me. He worked his way through the octagon with me for a reason. At the end of the day I respect him a lot, but we find out what it is on Saturday.
The last time Holloway gave up back-to-back fights was in 2013. He responded in an incredible way, streaking a 13-game winning streak (tied for the second longest in UFC history) that included the win. of the interim title, the undisputed title and the recording of the defense of several titles.
Past successes give Holloway great hope for his future, and he’s looking for a new streak to start at Kattar’s expense.
“If it’s another 13-game winning streak, then why not? But let’s say 14 or 15 so we don’t get tied up with other people, ”Holloway said. “There are records that I still want to grind on, and there are records that I have that I want to make difficult for people. At the end of the day we work hard, I put my nose in the mud and I keep working hard.
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