Holloway finishes off the Brazilian with a third-round TKO

The gold around Max Holloway’s waist now is as real as it gets.

Six months after winning an interim 145-pound title, the 25-year-old Waianae native unified the UFC featherweight championship with a third-round TKO of Jose Aldo in the main event of UFC 212 on Saturday night in Rio de Janeiro.

Holloway (18-3, 14-3 UFC) withstood the best from Aldo (26-3, 8-2) for two rounds before turning it up in the third and dismantling the longtime division kingpin, who lost for just the second time in 11 years. Referee John McCarthy stopped the fight at four minutes, 13 seconds to give Holloway his 11th straight win, tying Royce Gracie for the fourth-longest streak in UFC history.

“He was the champion for 10 years. He’s one of the greatest of all time,” said Holloway, who earned a fight of the night bonus worth an extra $50,000. “We got it done.”

Five years after making his UFC debut at 20 years old, Holloway, who was a slight underdog, faced some real adversity in the first couple of rounds.

Aldo landed a three-punch combo that hurt Holloway midway through the first. Holloway started to loosen up in the second round and diversified a few of his strikes, but Aldo came out ahead in most exchanges and led 20-18 on all three judges’ scorecards entering the third.

“He landed some big shots early,” Holloway said.

Holloway started more aggressively in the third round and landed a left hand followed by a straight right that sent Aldo to the canvas.

He immediately pounced and attacked relentlessly as Aldo struggled for well over a minute to survive. Aldo did his best to cover up and block as many of Holloway’s strikes as possible, but he eventually turtled up with Holloway on his back.

McCarthy gave Aldo every opportunity to fight his way out, but once Aldo failed to fight back, he was forced to end it.

“It’s not a sprint. It’s a race,” Holloway said. “This wasn’t three rounds. This was five rounds. He’s famous for getting tired in the later rounds and I get stronger. It was no secret.”

Holloway landed 97 of 210 strikes and 91 significant strikes, according to the UFC. Aldo landed 50 significant strikes, with 44 coming in the first two rounds.

“From here the only way is up,” Holloway said. “This is a lot of hard work — a lot of dedication. This is just the beginning, guys. Get ready, man. Blessed era is going to be in full effect. You guys are going to see.”

Hawaii went 2-0 against Brazil at UFC 212 as Makaha’s Yancy Medeiros opened the pay-per-view broadcast with a second-round TKO of Erick Silva to win consecutive fights for the first time since 2014.

Medeiros (14-4, 5-4) improved to 2-0 at 170 pounds after fighting as a lightweight with a left hook that floored Silva (19-8, 7-7).

Medeiros got the finish seconds later. Referee Eduardo Herdy called it at 2 minutes, 1 second, which was protested by Silva.

“I believe the ref could have let him go a little bit longer, but it’s not my call,” Medeiros said in a post-fight interview. “Coach was telling me I was being too passive in the first round. I had to bring it in the second round.”

Medeiros landed an overhand right that glanced off the back of Silva’s head and temporarily stunned the Brazilian early in the first round.

Silva fought back with a series of leg kicks and landed a left hook near the end of the round that sent Medeiros backward into the cage.

Both fighters were patient standing until Medeiros landed the overhand right and left hook combo that ended it.

Two judges scored the first round 10-9 in favor of Medeiros, while the third had it 10-9 for Silva.

Medeiros landed 37 of 91 strikes and 34 significant strikes, while Silva landed 22 significant strikes, according to UFC.com.

“(Welterweight) is my weight,” Medeiros said. “I got that pep in my step and my stride in my glide.”

Holloway flies home Monday and is scheduled to land at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport at 1:18 p.m.