Nine weeks after beating Cole Miller, Max Holloway steps back into the octagon to fight on network television.

The quick turnaround means trouble for opponent Cub Swanson based on Holloway’s past.

The 23-year-old from Waianae has had two of his best UFC performances when fighting two months apart, scoring a second-round TKO victory over Justin Lawrence in 2012 and knocking out Akira Corassani last October.

A performance like that against Swanson, ranked No. 5 at featherweight, would put Holloway ever so close to earning a world title shot.

"This is huge," said Holloway (12-3, 8-3 UFC). "He’s one of the best strikers in the division, people like to say, and I want to show I belong right next to the very elite in the division."

Holloway will take a five-fight winning streak into the main-card bout Saturday night at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. The fight will be shown live on KHON2 (Ch. 3/1003) at 2 p.m. Hawaii time.

Swanson (21-5, 6-2 UFC) is the toughest opponent Holloway has had since losing a unanimous decision to a then-up-and-comer in Conor McGregor, who fights champion Jose Aldo for the title at UFC 189 in July.

Holloway (No. 9 at 145 pounds) moved into the top 10 at featherweight with a decision over Miller in February.

He didn’t finish his opponent for the first time in five fights, but got the win despite the UFC telling him just three days before the fight that he’d get a spot on a network-televised card opposite Swanson if he won impressively.

"I knew I had a tough task in front of me in Cole Miller, so I had to take it one step at a time," Holloway said. "When I got the text, I texted my manager back saying, ‘You don’t tell me this (expletive) fight week.’

"I have a hard time already coming into a fight and then (that) got dropped on me, so it was kind of hard, but like I said, it either makes you or breaks you and I’m happy I made it."

Holloway said he took a week off before starting up his training camp for this fight.

He prefers to compete this often, knowing it only helps further his career both financially and as a fighter.

"Right now it’s about getting as much as I possibly can," he said. "Get my pay up there and then once I’m one of the guys making big money, then we can sit down and pick and choose fights. But right now, we’ve got to fight, man."

A sixth straight win would likely vault Holloway into the top five and put him just behind fighters such as Frankie Edgar, who has three wins over B.J. Penn, and Chad Mendes, who just knocked out No. 4-ranked Ricardo Lamas after losing his title fight against Aldo.

Swanson will be no easy fight. The 31-year-old from Palm Springs, Calif., had his six-fight win streak snapped in his last fight when he was submitted by Edgar in the fifth round.

The only five losses of his career have come against the very best in the world — Edgar, Lamas, Mendes, Aldo and Jens Pulver.

"He likes to get after it on the feet and I like to get after it on the feet," Holloway said. "Both of us don’t like to wrestle or do too much ground stuff, so yeah, it’s exciting to know that I could go out there and actually have a kickboxing match with MMA gloves on. That’s the potential we have."

Swanson also holds a unanimous decision in 2013 over Dustin Poirier, who submitted Holloway in the first round in his UFC debut in 2012.

Holloway, who will fight for the 12th time in 38 months, credits that fight, along with the losses to Dennis Bermudez and McGregor back-to-back, as the turning points in his career.

"I look back at those fights all the time," Holloway said. "Things happen for a reason and I wasn’t meant to win those three times, but after every loss something great has happened.

"I can’t complain, man. I’m blessed. That’s why my nickname is ‘Blessed.’ I’m a blessed man."

Max Holloway

Age: 23

Height: 5-11

Weight: 145 pounds

Record: 12-3 overall, 8-3

UFC Hometown: Waianae