Max Holloway

State of the UFC’s featherweight division entering 2021

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One of the more dynamic divisions in the UFC over the last decade has been the featherweight division. The division had it’s first title fight back in 2011 when Jose Aldo (29-7) fought Mark Hominick at UFC 129.

Prior to that the featherweight division had been in the WEC. After the featherweight division moved over to the UFC, the division was ruled by Aldo until the end of 2015 when Conor McGregor knocked Aldo out in the first round.

While Aldo did end up winning an interim featherweight title after McGregor left the division, once Aldo’s reign was over, we transitioned to the blessed era. Max Holloway (21-6) became UFC featherweight champion in 2016.

Holloway went on a run that saw him beat Anthony Pettis, Aldo (Twice), Frankie Edgar, and Brian Ortega (15-1, 1 NC). However, the Blessed Express finally fell last December to the new king, Alexander Volkanovski (22-1).

Volkanovski entered UFC 245 as a betting underdog to Holloway. However, he used a steady attack to dethrone the featherweight king. The two ran things back at UFC 251 with Volkanovski barely edging Holloway by split decision.

With two consecutive wins over Max Holloway, Volkanovski is ready for new challenges in the UFC‘s featherweight division in 2021. Fortunately for him, it’s a division full of killers which is promising for a big year.

UFC’s featherweight division in 2021

Starting at the top, we should expect to see a UFC featherweight title fight pretty quickly in 2021. After Brian Ortega completely dominated Chan Sung Jung (16-6), he’s earned the next shot at Volkanovski.

Dana White has said that the title fight between those two will likely take place in February. The former champion, Holloway, is still near the top of the division. Holloway will kick off the UFC‘s action in 2021 on Fight Island.

UFC Fight Island 7 is being headlined by Holloway as he takes on Calvin Kattar (22-4). Kattar has risen to the top of the division having only lost once in the last couple of years. Whoever wins that fight should be in a really good position in the division.

The one UFC contender people need to watch out for is Zabit Magomedsharipov (18-1). The Russian didn’t get to fight in 2020 and he’s not currently booked, but he’s been perfect at 6-0 since joining the UFC.

Had he picked up a win in 2020, he could’ve gotten a title shot before Brian Ortega. I would expect the UFC to get Zabit a fight relatively early in 2021. The top contender needs to get back in the octagon sooner than later.

The featherweight division is absolutely stacked and Volkanovski is going to have his hands full in 2021. To be completely honest, I really don’t know who will leave 2021 as the UFC featherweight champion. Should be a very fun year in that weight class.

UFC books Max Holloway – Calvin Kattar

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The UFC announced today a banger of a matchup that will take place on January 16th. Former featherweight champion, Max Holloway (26-6), will be returning against Calvin Kattar (22-4) in the headliner of the January 16th card.

It will be Holloway’s first matchup since he lost in a controversial way to Alexander Volkanovski back in July. The former UFC champion fought the current champion to a razor close split decision. Many, including Dana White, felt that Holloway won the fight.

With Holloway having fought Volkanovski twice in a row, the UFC decided not to run the fight back. Many have been wondering who the blessed express will take on next, and now we got our answer.

Back on the first trip to Fight Island, Calvin Kattar also competed. He headlined a card with Dan Ige. The two men fought in a war that Kattar took by unanimous decision. It was Kattar’s second consecutive win.

UFC January 16th

Both of these men are itching to get to the UFC title. Holloway is looking to get back to try to fight Volkanovski for a third time. Meanwhile, Kattar is looking to secure the biggest win of his career in this matchup with Holloway.

Since October of 2018, the only man to have gotten the better of Kattar in the UFC was Zabit Magomedsharipov. However, many people believe that Kattar would have won that fight if it would have been a traditional five round main event.

Instead, Zabit’s early lead carried him to the decision over Kattar. Kattar has looked sensational as of late. However, he’s going to get the biggest test of his career against Max Holloway.

The former champion is one of the very best in the world. Since 2013, Holloway has only lost to Volkanovski, Dustin Poirier, and Conor McGregor. If he’s able to knock off Kattar on January 16th, he might be next in line after Brian Ortega.

UFC’s Volkanovski vs Bellator’s Pitbull: Who’s the best featherweight?

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This past week at Bellator 252, Patricio Pitbull Freire (31-4) knocked out Pedro Carvalho to defend his featherweight crown. After the fight was over, Pitbull and Scott Coker both claimed that Pitbull was the best featherweight in the world.

Of course these comments were met with some criticism. Including from current UFC featherweight champion, Alexander Volkanovski (22-1). Volkanovski just rolled his eyes in a Tweet after hearing the comments from the Bellator champion.

There has been a lot of debate in the MMA community about the UFC’s champions and Bellator‘s champions. Now, most if not all of the time, people are going to say that the UFC has the best champion.

The arguments are completely justified considering the talent pool in the UFC compared to Bellator. There is no questioning the fact that it’s tougher to get to the UFC crown versus getting to the Bellator crown.

However, Patricio Pitbull definitely belongs in the conversation as one of the best in the world. He’s currently ranked fourth in the world according to ESPN’s MMA divisional rankings. So the question is, how would Pitbull do in the UFC?

UFC vs Bellator

Conventional wisdom would give Volkanovski a huge advantage over Pitbull considering the competition level. Pitbull has had some tough fights in Bellator, but those have mainly come at lightweight versus featherweight.

It should also be known that Pitbull has been defeated at featherweight in Bellator (Daniel Straus). Volkanovski has never lost in the UFC’s featherweight division. If Pitbull was to go over to the UFC, how would he do?

The crazy thing is, I think Pitbull has a better chance against Volkanovski than he does against other top UFC contenders. Pitbull has a ton of power and is basically the same size as Alexander Volkanovski.

We’ve seen the UFC champion hurt at times, particularly in his last fight with Max Holloway. Neither man is unbeatable, and I think Pitbull would have a good chance at beating Volkanovski. Not saying he would, but he’d have a shot.

However, given his style, I think Pitbull would struggle with other guys in the division. I think Max Holloway and Brian Ortega are bad matchups for Pitbull. Frankly, I think Brian Ortega is a bad matchup for anyone in the world right now at featherweight.

At the end of the day, Pitbull belongs in the conversation with the best in the UFC. However, he is not the best featherweight in the world. Unfortunately for him, he cannot lay claim to that title while fighting in Bellator.

The competition level just isn’t there. There is one clear best featherweight in the world right now, and that is Alexander “The Great” Volkanovski. That is my opinion, but there is an argument for both sides.

Brian Ortega’s transformation has led him to a UFC title shot

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Brian Ortega, UFC

This past Saturday at UFC Fight Island 6, we saw a new and improved Brian Ortega (15-1, 1 NC). Ortega hadn’t fought in nearly two years, and I figured he might be a little rusty. His opponent Chan Sung Jung (16-6) appeared to be the favorite entering Saturday.

Ortega has always been known for his slick skills on the ground. His guillotine chokes are legendary. However, his striking always seemed to be lacking behind. He showed promise in that area especially when he knocked out former UFC champion, Frankie Edgar.

However, most believed that a standup fight would favor the Korean Zombie on Saturday. What we saw at UFC Fight Island 6 was the complete transformation and evolution of T-City. Brian Ortega looked like a world beater on Saturday night.

From the opening bell, Ortega controlled the striking. With leg kicks from the outside and crisp shots down the middle, Ortega never allowed TKZ to get comfortable. When the Zombie charged forward in round two, he was met with a spinning elbow that floored him.

Ortega completely dominated the fight from the opening bell to the closing bell. I figured if the fight remained standing, the Zombie would have a big advantage. However, Ortega proved me and all of his doubters wrong on his way to securing a UFC title shot.

Clarity in the UFC’s featherweight division

The UFC‘s featherweight division has been in a little bit of a limbo state over the last few months. The champion, Alexander Volkanovski, just defeated Max Holloway for the second time back at UFC 251. Holloway had earned an immediate rematch after losing the title in December.

The fight was razor close, however, the judges gave the nod to the current UFC champion. With those two having fought back-to-back, there needed to be a new top contender. The UFC booked two fights that could produce a number one contender.

Due to injuries, the only fight that came to fruition occurred at UFC Fight Island 6. Brian Ortega is the new number one contender in the featherweight division, and he’s going to pose some problems for Alexander Volkanovski with the way he looks now.

Alexander Volkanovski has his eyes on UFC Fight Island 6

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The UFC‘s featherweight champion of the world certainly has his eyes on this weekend’s main event. Alexander Volkanovski (22-1) has been sitting on the sidelines since his split decision win over Max Holloway back at UFC 251 in July.

Since then, the UFC‘s featherweight champion has been waiting for a worthy top contender to emerge. Volkanovski has been waiting for the highly anticipated matchups to occur between Brian Ortega and Chan Sung Jung as well as the Zabit Magmedosharipov and Yair Rodriguez.

The Zabit – Rodriguez fight has been sidelined with injuries to Rodriguez. However, Jung and Ortega will take center stage this weekend at UFC Fight Island 6. The main event of the evening will likely produce the top contender in the featherweight division.

You have to imagine that Volkanovski is chomping at the bit to get back in the octagon. There were more questions than answers provided in his last title defense at UFC 251. Saturday night a new and dangerous contender will emerge in the featherweight division.

UFC Fight Island 6’s Title Eliminator

There’s already bad blood that exists between Brian Ortega (14-1, 1 NC) and Chan Sung Jung (16-5). Throw in the fact that the winner is likely going to get the next shot at UFC gold and you have the perfect recipe for a fantastic main event.

It’s almost been two years since we have last seen Ortega inside the octagon. Ortega last fought for the UFC title against Max Holloway. It was a fight that showed off a lot of areas where T-City needed to improve. The world should expect a much better Brian Ortega Saturday night.

Saturday night will also mark the first fight of 2020 for the UFC‘s Korean Zombie. Jung will enter the cage on a two fight winning streak. Jung has knocked out Frankie Edgar and Renato Carneiro in his last two UFC contests.

Volkanovski will be glued to his TV come Saturday night. This matchup between top five UFC featherweight contenders will give Alexander The Great something that he’s been waiting for all year. A challenger not named Max Holloway.

 

UFC: Alexander Volkanovski eyes two key fights for next title defense

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Everything has been pretty quiet at the top of the featherweight division since UFC 251. Champion Alexander Volkanovski (22-1) has been in a state of limbo since he defeated the former champion, Max Holloway (21-6), for the second time.

The second fight was razor close, and at first, the UFC seemed interested in putting on the trilogy. However, Volkanovski didn’t seem interested as he had just defeated Holloway twice in his eyes. Can’t really blame the guy for wanting to move on.

Since then, the UFC has abandoned the idea. Now, Volkanovski is eyeing two key featherweight contests to determine who will face him next. Those two contests are the Chan Sung Jung – Brian Ortega fight and the Zabit Magomedsharipov – Yair Rodriguez fight.

Who will be the next contender for the UFC featherweight crown?

On the upcoming fights, the UFC featherweight champion said to MMA Junkie, “I want these guys to go out and take their number one contender spot. Right now, if someone was just given the shot, it’s not a big fight.” Volkanovski wants his next fight to generate a ton of interest.

“At the end of the day, it’s what the UFC and fans want. It also depends on their performances. If someone has a big knockout, submission or a dominant performance, it can solidify them as the next guy,” Volkanovski said.

Brian Ortega (14-1, 1 NC), Chan Sung Jung (16-5), Zabit Magomedsharipov (18-1), and Yair Rodriguez (13-2, 1 NC) would all be deserving of a UFC title shot with a win. But whoever wins those contests must do it impressively. Sound like the most impressive could get the next shot at the champ.

What about Holloway?

As I pointed out above, originally the UFC was interested in a trilogy fight with Holloway. However, Volkanovski wants to see Holloway get active again in the division before he grants him another shot at the title. He does seem interested in the trilogy eventually.

“Even though I’m 2-0, there still seems to be unfinished business. I think it could definitely happen, but not anytime soon,” Volkanovski told MMA Junkie. My guess is that Holloway is going to be paired up with someone like Calvin Kattar (22-4) before the year is over.

There is a lot of fluidity right now in the featherweight division. The UFC champ is happy to just watch it all play out. Whatever fight generates the most interest after all these matchups, Volkanovski will be ready for it and ready to defend.

How would Patricio “Pitbull” Freire fair in the UFC?

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Patricio Pitbull Freire

Over the weekend, the media were quick to ask UFC President Dana White about the comments that Scott Coker made regarding Bellator’s light heavyweight division. Coker stated that their division was better than the UFC’s.

White responded with a short and quick, “Isn’t he cute?” The media followed-up by asking about if the UFC be interested in cross promotional super fights. White dismissed this saying nothing would be interesting.

When the media followed-up asking about arguably Bellator’s top fighter, Patricio Pitbull (30-4), White played it off. He said he couldn’t tell you anything about Bellator’s double champ. Pitbull wasn’t pleased with the response.

How would Pitbull fair in the UFC?

Let me start out by stating that I’m a big fan of Patricio Pitbull. I think he is a great fighter, and I truly believe that he can compete with anyone in the UFC‘s featherweight division. There is a reason that Pitbull is currently ranked 4th in the ESPN featherweight rankings.

I believe that Patricio Pitbull would be squarely in the top five of the UFC‘s featherweight rankings if he was with the promotion. Would he beat Alexander Volkanovski, Max Holloway, or Zabit Magomedsharipov? I’m not sure about that, but he would definitely be competitive.

Where I don’t see him being very competitive is in the UFC‘s lightweight division. Pitbull is the Bellator lightweight champion as well, but that’s not his natural weight class. The UFC‘s lightweight division is the deepest division in the history of the sport.

Yes, Patricio Freire has a knockout over top free agent Michael Chandler, but I’m not sure how he would do against the UFC‘s best. Imagine Pitbull against Khabib Nurmagomedov, Justin Gaethje, Conor McGregor, Tony Ferguson, Dustin Poirier, and I could go on and on. He’d be a sizable underdog in any of those contests.

If the UFC and Bellator would ever agree to such an event, I would implore Pitbull to take on the UFC‘s featherweight champion. That would be a competitive fight. However, I don’t think he could swim with those sharks at lightweight. What do you think?

 

UFC BREAKING: Zabit Magomedsharipov – Yair Rodriguez off due to an ankle injury

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Yair Rodriguez

One of the more anticipated UFC featherweight contests of 2020 will not happen. Dana White confirmed this evening that Yair Rodriguez (13-2) has injured his ankle and will not headline the August 29th fight night against Zabit Magomedsharipov (18-1).

What does the UFC do?

The UFC has tried to make this fight multiple times over the last couple of years. Injuries have continued to get in the way of this fight being a reality.

Zabit and Rodriguez are two of the brighter stars in the UFC‘s lower weight classes. The fight between the two of them was likely to determine who would face Alexander Volkanovksi next for the featherweight title.

As ESPN’s Ariel Helwani suggested, Calvin Kattar has offered to step in to face Zabit in the main event of the August 29th card. Kattar and Zabit do have history.

The two men just fought and headlined a fight night back in November. Zabit won the three round main event, but Kattar was really coming on strong at the end. Many believe that Kattar could have won if it had been a traditional five round main event.

Kattar would make sense from a rankings perspective, but there’s no word on if Zabit would want to fight Kattar back-to-back. There are a couple of additional options for Zabit at 145 pounds.

Other Options

The UFC has been trying to book Chan Sung Jung and Brian Ortega for some time now. White has said that the UFC is close to booking that fight. However, maybe the promotion looks to see if one of them would be interested in stepping in to face Zabit.

Another outside the box option could be giving Max Holloway a call to see if he’d take the fight. The former champion could really establish that he should get another shot at Volkanovski if he can beat Zabit.

White said the Rodriguez has a high ankle sprain and a fracture. It’s unlikely, but if he recovers quickly, the UFC could shift gears to move up a main event and move back the Zabit – Rodriguez fight. Many options are on the table and we should expect the UFC to move quickly on this one.

 

UFC: Alexander Volkanovski Isn’t Fond Of Fighting Max Holloway Again

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Dustin Poirier, UFC

We’ve never had a fighter take on the same opponent four straight times in the UFC, but that’s not one hundred percent out of the question with the current situation in the featherweight division. Alexander Volkanovski surprised the world by taking the belt from Max Holloway, and held onto it by defeating Holloway again, but now it’s unclear who his next opponent is and Dana White is partial to another fight against the former champ.

That poses some obvious problems, though. For one, Volkanovski has defeated Holloway two straight times already. It’s hard to say that Holloway deserves another rematch this soon. Second, if Holloway does win a rematch like this, it puts the matchmakers in a very awkward situation.

Volkanovski has done enough to earn an immediate rematch if he loses, after all. But this ‘rematch’ would actually be the fourth fight between him and Holloway.

For obvious reasons, the current champion isn’t too fond of the idea.

What did Volkanovski say about the potential fight?

“It’s pretty clear that like, you win back-to-back, two wins in a row. To make a third one, it just doesn’t really make sense, especially right now. Again, we know that last fight was close, but the judges gave me the decision, and that’s that. And in the first fight, even though it was competitive, I pretty clearly won that fight,” Volkanovski said to Submission Radio. “So, to just give him another rematch straight away and put the division on hold, it just doesn’t make any sense…”

He also implied that the UFC is looking to push one of their stars back to champion status by giving him a second instant rematch.

“We’ve got 15 people that are ranked for a reason, and what, we’re just gonna keep fighting until Max wins? You know what I mean? It just doesn’t make sense.”

It’s true that many of the other contenders in the division are occupied, but it does look bad for the UFC to give one of their former champions back to back shots at winning the belt again without giving other fighters a chance during the same period.

And if there is a fourth fight, it may not do as well from a ratings point of view. Fans want to see something different after a while, after all. This is anything but that. But with the current state of the division being what it is, we’ll just have to wait and see what the league eventually decides. There’s no telling what the decision from Dana White will be.

UFC: Max Holloway could get the next title shot according to Dana White

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It was very clear that UFC president Dana White was not a fan of the decision at UFC 251 between featherweight champion, Alexander Volkanovski, and former champion, Max Holloway.

The fight left the UFC in a bit of a pickle when it comes to what happens next. If Holloway had only lost that one time to Volkanovski, the promotion would have no issues booking the fight again.

However, Holloway has lost two consecutive fights to Volkanovski. Yes, the second fight was razor close, but still it’s two losses in the record books. With that, most thought that there is no way that the UFC would give Holloway another shot especially right away.

Despite that, White said to ESPN that, “It’s hard to not…” when considering booking Volkanovski – Holloway 3. White went on to talk about how Volkanovski wouldn’t enjoy that idea.

What should the UFC do?

The UFC is really in a tough spot when it comes to the featherweight division. The UFC is going to book Zabit Magomedsharipov and Yair Rodriguez but that’s not finalized yet. They are also going to book Brian Ortega – Chan Sung Jung but that fight is also not finalized.

Those are all the contenders in the division outside of Calvin Kattar. I’m not convinced the UFC loves the idea of giving Kattar a shot at the title right now.

So with everyone booked, either Volkanovski is going to sit for a while or they run the fight back a third time. I definitely understand the frustration this would bring from the champion.

Volkanovski really has nothing to gain from fighting Holloway a third time meanwhile Holloway has everything to get back. Both of these fighters are so evenly matched. A third fight between the two would create more problems than solutions.

What if Max Holloway wins a close fight? How could you then deny Volkanovski a fourth fight since he won the first two? If you give Holloway another shot, it really hurts the division.

While he might not want to, I think the best thing would be for Volkanovski to sit on the sidelines for a bit. Maybe let Holloway fight a guy like Calvin Kattar next. Let the division play out more before giving Holloway a third fight with Volkanovski.