Max Holloway (20-4 MMA, 16-4 UFC) sees in his next bout against Dustin Poirier (24-5 MMA, 16-4 UFC) a way to prove himself against current UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, in order to face him.
The UFC featherweight champion wants to prove again that he does not shrink from any challenge, and therefore plans to do what it takes to fight Nurmagomedov.
Holloway and Poirier have fought before. It was February 2012 at UFC 143, with then 20-year-old Holloway making his promotional debut. Poirier, 23 at the time, won by first-round submission via mounted triangle armbar
The 27-year-old will face next month’s Poirier in the UFC 236 main event, in an attempt to grab the interim lightweight belt. If he wins, it is certainly a fight against Nurmagomedov that will be granted.
“Khabib said he wanted to fight me, but he wanted me to prove myself. I got Dustin. April 13, I decided to prove myself. I’m going to go out there and prove myself, and when he’s ready to come back, I’ll be ready.” Holloway said.
Holloway had almost had the opportunity to face Nurmagomedov for the 155-pound title at UFC 223 last year. But this opportunity had fallen by the wayside when he was forced to give up after being medically unfit 24 hours before the fight.
Max Holloway rematches Dustin Poirier for interim lightweight title at UFC 236. (Source:www.mmanews.com)
The American fighter said he will not wait for Nurmagomedov to return to competition without defending his featherweight title again.
“After that Ortega fight I had to take some time personally and some business stuff, then they came to me with this fight in April,” Holloway said.
“Can’t let it slip through your fingers. At the end of the day, first things first, I got Dustin Poirier, and we’ll talk to the UFC after that. I don’t think Frankie [Edgar] or Jose [Aldo] deserve a champ that’s not willing to defend for a year. After this one I could go back down in the summer. That would be fun. But first things first, April 13.”
UFC 236 will be held in Atlanta, and will also offer co-main event another fight for the interim title between Kelvin Gastelum and Israel Adesanya in middleweight.
