Holloway still has a title to claim

Waianae’s Max Holloway can still win a world title despite his opponent, Anthony Pettis, missing weight on Friday.

Pettis, a former 155-pound UFC champion, weighed in at 148 pounds, 3 pounds over the featherweight limit for tonight’s main event of UFC 206 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto.

Pettis (19-5, 6-4 UFC) is not eligible to win the interim featherweight title and will forfeit 20 percent of his purse to Holloway (16-3, 12-2).

Holloway will be crowned interim champion if he can get past Pettis.

“I’m not here for an interim belt. I want that real belt,” Pettis said after Friday’s public weigh-in. “Business as usual. It was a health issue. I could have cut the weight.”

Pettis received a chorus of boos from the fans in attendance at the weigh-in when it was announced he was over weight.

Holloway had little to say after he weighed in right at 145 pounds.

“It is what it is,” Holloway said. “Tune in (tonight) and see a star be born, baby.”

Pettis was attempting to make weight for his second professional fight at 145 pounds after winning both WEC and UFC lightweight world titles.

Holloway will join Hilo’s B.J. Penn as the only Hawaii fighters to headline a UFC pay-per-view.

The UFC’s weigh-in procedure now has fighters weigh in privately earlier in the day before a public weigh-in.

After Pettis missed weight, Holloway took to Twitter and wrote, “To all Pettis (fans) flip the channel from Showtime to cineMax. #teamblessedmma welcomes you with open arms. Hawaii’s warmer. #UFCHawaii.”

Pettis goes by the nickname of “Showtime.”

Holloway has won nine consecutive fights since losing to current UFC lightweight champion and former UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor.

McGregor was stripped of his 145-pound title when UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier, who was originally scheduled to headline UFC 206 against Anthony Johnson, had to pull out of the fight with an injury.

The UFC made interim champion Jose Aldo the new champion and made Holloway’s fight against Pettis for an interim belt.

The winner was expected to fight Aldo to unify the titles next year, but it’s now unclear what would happen should Pettis win.