Morning Report: Max Holloway wants to fight Dustin Poirier or Justin Gaethje after ‘crazy’ UFC 291 clash
Max Holloway continues to tease a return to lightweight waters.
Hawaii’s finest has established himself as one of the very best featherweights of all-time. Since 2013, Holloway, 31, has only lost in UFC title fights, falling short against Alexander Volkanovski and Dustin Poirier.
Holloway’s Poirier rematch was a unique one that saw “Blessed” return to lightweight for the first time since his fourth career bout in 2011 and do so on short notice for interim gold. Coincidentally, Holloway’s UFC debut was his fifth professional fight, which came against Poirier. Unfortunately for the legend, Holloway was unable to overcome “The Diamond,” first by first-round triangle armbar and secondly by unanimous decision. While still a near-flawless force at 145 pounds, Holloway (24-7) is in a limbo-like position with three losses to the current champion Volkanovski.
Poirier rematches Justin Gaethje at UFC 291 this Saturday night in Salt Lake City, Utah, providing Holloway with a potential window he could see open for his lightweight return.
“It’s for the BMF belt. If you make any fight for the BMF belt, this the fight,” Holloway said of Poirier vs. Gaethje 2 on his YouTube channel. “I wanna throw my name out in that hat sooner or later now that the BMF belt is around 155. That would be cool. I would love to fight either of these guys just for fan purposes. This is a fan fight. This is a huge fight, bro. A cool fight.
“I’m glad that these guys have the opportunity to win the BMF belt. These guys are studs.”
Holloway has still held the aura of a champion without a title in the featherweight division since his second and third defeats to Volkanovski. In his three last wins over Arnold Allen, Yair Rodriguez, and Calvin Kattar, “Blessed” has arguably been better than ever, making the thought of him in the lightweight mix a thrilling one for fight fans.
No matter who the opponent is, any pairing with Poirier, Gaethje, and Holloway is likely to be action-packed. All three realize their entertainment value, and for Holloway, he feels the deciding factor in this big upcoming rematch will be durability.
“One guy’s got two wins over me, shaped my damn head, and the other guy almost exposed me to the world,” Holloway said. “This fight right here to me is — whoever wins this fight is the person who’s going to simply take the more damage, who simply can last longer than the other. These two guys, I mean, this is fight of the year written all over it, bro. If you want a fight-of-the-year contender, this is a fight right here that is a fight of the year.
“Dustin with his boxing, Gaethje with his boxing. Bro, Gaethje just makes any fight crazy. He makes any fight just absolutely insane, a dog fight, a warrior fight, whatever you want to call it, Gaethje just makes it an ugly messy fight. At the end of the day, Dustin Poirier’s Dustin Poirier, bro. He had the highest of the highs, the lowest of the lows in the sport. They both did. I think this fight is gonna be crazy.”
TOP STORIES
Recap. The Ultimate Fighter 31: Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler Episode 9 results
Roundtable. Is Dustin Poirier vs. Justin Gaethje 2 a lock to be Fight of the Year? Plus more
BMFs. Matt Brown: Justin Gaethje ‘fighting for a little bit more’ than Dustin Poirier in UFC 291 rematch
Scary. NAC: Vicente Luque cleared to fight after suffering brain bleed in Geoff Neal knockout loss
Banter. Alex Pereira responds to Daniel Cormier, dismisses concern about UFC 291 turnaround: ‘Everything I did was perfect’
Legend. Jon Jones issues message to fans on now-deleted tweets, writes ‘everyone’s the next big thing until I beat them’
Crossover. Phil de Fries calls for fight with Francis Ngannou when he returns to MMA: ‘If not me, who else?’
Power. Jan Blachowicz hopes for title shot against Jiri Prochazka that will be ‘the biggest fight in Europe’s history’
Comeback. Joe Rogan, Chael Sonnen return to broadcast team for UFC 291
VIDEO STEW
TUF Hang - TUF 31: Ep. 9.
Embedded 2.
Blachowicz vs. Pereira preview.
Top finishes from UFC 291 fighters.
The streak.
Cruz on Poirier vs. Gaethje 2.
Volk’s 291 picks.
The War Room: UFC 291.
MORNING MUSIC
SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE
What have we done?
Balls in your court mr BMF https://t.co/zMwbUucmst pic.twitter.com/5P8qBsJhqf
— Funky (@Benaskren) July 25, 2023
No I’m not gonna box Jorge. If Jorge was really a BMF he will accept a rematch in MMA and not be a coward. https://t.co/d9UDZsEZ1h
— Funky (@Benaskren) July 25, 2023
I’ve kept in great shape during retirement. I have zero desire to fight anyone except that loser Jorge. pic.twitter.com/T5y4QI9GAZ
— Funky (@Benaskren) July 25, 2023
Jorge Masvidal continues his back-and-forth with Ben Askren pic.twitter.com/cu9bhQmoGX
— MMAFighting.com (@MMAFighting) July 25, 2023
Tom is unintentionally hilarious.
Jon, chill out mate
— Tom Aspinall (@AspinallMMA) July 25, 2023
Crazy.
UFC 291 will be Dustin Poirier's #12 UFC main event. Only 10 fighters have headlined for the promotion on more occasions.
— Andy Hickey MMA (@AndyHickeyMMA) July 25, 2023
One of the most reliable fighters the promotion has ever had. pic.twitter.com/0fYRkeg63D
Art.
Who will be the BADDEST?
— UFC (@ufc) July 25, 2023
The @DustinPoirier and @Justin_Gaethje rematch goes down this Saturday!
[ Grab the #UFC291 Artist Series design now at @UFCStore | via @RodrigoLorenzoL ] pic.twitter.com/904pWCkOcs
Nashville.
Official Poster #UFCNashville (Vertical, Landscape & IG) pic.twitter.com/LHUjEv6xDf
— Marcel Dorff (@BigMarcel24) July 25, 2023
The Reaper rebound.
“It’s not how many times you get knocked down that count, it’s how many times you get back up.”
— Robert Whittaker (@robwhittakermma) July 25, 2023
I’ve always come back stronger from a loss pic.twitter.com/iwBnmQOdFe
A CCC breakdown.
.@DustinPoirier has evolved as a fighter since entering the UFC. He's not just a brawler: he's become a tactician. Without losing any of that DOG in him
— Henry Cejudo (@HenryCejudo) July 25, 2023
Poirier vs @Justin_Gaethje is gonna be
FULL FILM BREAKDOWN: https://t.co/KGkkKCaEiP
Powered by @liftedtrucksaz pic.twitter.com/t4HPID4r3V
Only Paulo.
OMG!!!! I’m EXCITED to announce that now I’m on at @onlyfans !
— Paulo Costa ( Borrachinha ) (@BorrachinhaMMA) July 25, 2023
I’m gonna show more training sessions, more secrets and tips of fight, more about what I do to have fun and of course, what you guys love it.. all the backstage of my fights!
Don’t waste time!
Subscribe now! It’s… pic.twitter.com/HVJfxNmWcj
Please Pray guys….
— Paulo Costa ( Borrachinha ) (@BorrachinhaMMA) July 25, 2023
But not for me ⚡️⚡️ ⚡️
This is hyperbaric session ♂️ pic.twitter.com/aARrG4XpMV
292.
Rate the #UFC292 poster 1-10 pic.twitter.com/rETJAuFeqR
— MMA Mania (@mmamania) July 25, 2023
The Rat.
Throwback to when @TheoVon put in work on a Daru Strong Style training session! pic.twitter.com/EjiN7T9bub
— Phil Daru (@DaruStrong) July 25, 2023
Johnny Eblenberg.
Truth?
— BONY (@JonnyBones) July 25, 2023
Didn’t turn out very well.
When Tony Ferguson reached into his bag of tricks #UFC291 pic.twitter.com/9fs3USrPCC
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) July 25, 2023
Cerrone-Tate.
Woodshop.
Reminder.
England.
Tofiq.
1 of 8 fighters in RIZIN history to start with a 5-0 run ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️@Tofiq__Musayev #SuperRIZIN2 | 7/30 2:00am CT | @FiteTV | PPV link in bio pic.twitter.com/SNqQMHYiFQ
— RIZIN FF English (@rizin_English) July 26, 2023
FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS
Roberto “Satoshi” de Souza (15-2) vs. Patricky “Pitbull” Freire (24-11); Super RIZIN 2, July 29
Patricio “Pitbull” Freire (35-6) vs. Chihiro Suzuki (10-3); Super RIZIN 2, July 29
Nasrat Haqparast (14-5) vs. Sam Patterson (10-2-1); UFC Paris, Sept. 2
Jamie Mullarkey (16-6) vs. John Makdessi (18-8); UFC 293, Sept. 9
FINAL THOUGHTS
Holloway vs. Gaethje is chaos that I eventually need in my life. Please and thank you, MMA gods.
Thanks for reading!
EXIT POLL
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