Outside of Alexander Volkanovski, no one has had an answer for Max Holloway in the past decade.
Holloway (24-7 MMA, 20-7 UFC), the former champion at 145 pounds, continued to take out top featherweight contenders when he defeated Arnold Allen in this past Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 44 headliner. “Blessed” handed Allen his first octagon loss when he out-struck him over the course of five rounds.
Henry Cejudo, who’s eyeing the featherweight title himself, broke down former champ Holloway’s game and where fighters can find success against him.
“(You) can’t go fire for fire with Holloway,” Cejudo said on his YouTube channel. “You either have to hit him hard, anticipate him and hit him hard, or catch your distance and just play the kicking game.”
He continued, “You’d have to kick him. You have to take his foundation out, set traps, smoke. You can’t kick just to kick. You’ve got to inch your way in as you do that.”
Despite being dropped in the closing seconds of the fight, Allen won Round 5 on all three of the judges’ scorecards. But it was too little too late for the Brit, who saw his 10-fight winning streak snapped.
“Arnold Allen wanted it, but Holloway’s just too much for these cats,” Cejudo said. “The third fighter to go seven hours of fight time in UFC history. I mean, congratulations to Holloway. The only thing I’ve got to say is that he’s second to Volkanovski at 145 pounds. Volkanovski put it on him the last time they fought. … Holloway an easy win.”
But before Cejudo can chase featherweight gold, he will look to reclaim his bantamweight title when he challenges champ Aljamain Sterling in the UFC 288 main event on May 6 at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 44.
