Max Holloway

Overview

Thirteen straight UFC wins at his peak, and the next streak he carries is one fight old. Max Holloway fights at lightweight and is 24-9 in the UFC, with 14 finishes, 12 of them by KO/TKO.

The other ten wins went the distance. Seven of his wins came against opponents our model tags as elite, and he has fought many more of that caliber than the wins alone show.

His professional record across all promotions is 28-9-0. Only two of the nine UFC losses ended before the final bell.

UFC Career

Holloway debuted at UFC 143 in February 2012 and was submitted by Dustin Poirier in round 1. He then beat Pat Schilling, Justin Lawrence and Leonard Garcia before decision losses to Dennis Bermudez and Conor McGregor in 2013.

The 13-fight run started in January 2014 with Will Chope and ran through Andre Fili, Clay Collard, Akira Corassani, Cole Miller, Cub Swanson, Charles Oliveira, Jeremy Stephens, Ricardo Lamas and Anthony Pettis. It continued with two main-event wins over Jose Aldo, both ending in round 3 (UFC 212 and UFC 218), and finished with Brian Ortega at UFC 231, a stoppage at 5:00 of round 4.

Then came the stretch that tested him. He lost a five-round decision to Poirier at UFC 236, beat Frankie Edgar over five, and then dropped back-to-back fights to Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 245 and UFC 251, a unanimous decision and then a split. Both went the full five rounds. Neither was a finish.

He rebuilt with five-round main-event decisions over Calvin Kattar and Yair Rodriguez, lost a third decision to Volkanovski at UFC 276, then beat Arnold Allen over five. A third-round stoppage of Chan Sung Jung at 0:23 followed, and then Justin Gaethje at UFC 300 ended at 4:59 of round 5. One second from a decision, finished anyway.

Ilia Topuria stopped him in round 3 at UFC 308, his only knockout loss. He answered with a unanimous decision over Poirier at UFC 318, then lost a five-round decision to Oliveira at UFC 326. His latest fight was a round 1 stoppage of McGregor in 1:09 at UFC 329.

Nine losses, and only two of them ended before the final bell.

Fighting Style

Holloway is a busy striker who is hard to hit cleanly. He throws and lands at a pace well above most of the division, and his defense holds up better than most. Accuracy is about average, so his edge comes from volume rather than precision. He does take his share of strikes, though, and absorbs more than most fighters even with that defense.

On the ground, he is very hard to take down, and he rarely shoots for takedowns himself. He also seldom hunts for submissions. He is content to keep the fight standing.

His finishing record fits that profile. Twelve of his wins came by KO/TKO, five of them in round 3, and three came in the first round. Two wins came by submission, both in round 3, so the ground game is not entirely missing from his résumé.

Notable Wins

• Jose Aldo — KO/TKO, round 3 (4:13), UFC 212 (2017)
• Jose Aldo — KO/TKO, round 3 (4:51), UFC 218 (2017)
• Brian Ortega — KO/TKO, round 4 (5:00), UFC 231 (2018)
• Justin Gaethje — KO/TKO, round 5 (4:59), UFC 300 (2024)

Quick Facts

• Division: Lightweight
• UFC record: 24-9
• Professional record (all promotions): 28-9-0
• UFC debut: 2012
• Stance: Orthodox
• Height / reach: 5'11" / 69"
• Team: Gracie Technics
• Born: Waianae, HI, United States