LAS VEGAS >> Max Holloway said before UFC 245 he wanted to make the ninth island his regular home for fights.
If he wants to get his title back, he might have to go all the way to Australia instead.
UFC President Dana White said after Holloway’s six-year undefeated run in the featherweight division came to an end that he “100 percent” was interested in running it back, but possibly in Alexander Volkanovski’s home country.
“That market (Australia) is massive for us,” White said at the UFC 245 post-fight press conference. “Maybe we do that rematch in Australia, I don’t know, just off the top of my head.”
Holloway’s 13-fight win streak at 145 pounds ended when Volkanovski scored a 48-47, 48-47, 50-45 unanimous decision in the co-main event at T-Mobile Arena.
>> Photo Gallery: Alexander Volkanovski defeats Max Holloway at UFC 245
Holloway didn’t offer any hints as to what he wanted next, saying he would talk it over with his team and leave it up to White and the UFC.
“I’m going to sit down with my team, watch the tape, sit down with Dana, if they hit me up, it is what it is,” Holloway said. “The fans make it happen. I’m a fighter, I fight. It’s a team decision with me. It’s not a me thing.”
He did say he was surprised at the outcome of the fight. He admitted the first round was a feeling-out process and gave it to Volkanovski, but he thought midway through the second round he started to take control.
“It always takes me a round or two to start getting going,” Holloway said. “I felt I was having success from mid-second round all the way to third, four, fifth.”
An announced crowd of 16,811 were primarily in Holloway’s corner. He received the biggest cheers of the night in videos leading up to the start of the pay-per-view telecast.
Volkanovski sucked the air out of the building with his pace and his creativity. For the entire fight, his movement made it difficult for Holloway to connect with shots.
The fight never went to the ground despite Volkanovski’s efforts, especially in the later rounds.
Holloway switched stances in the third round after eating a series of leg kicks in the opening 10 minutes, but said he was fine after the fight.
“He was talking about how strong he was, how powerful he was so we was playing that game,” Holloway said. “I feel good. We could go five more rounds right now.”
One thing that wasn’t an issue was the weight cut. Holloway turned 28 just before the fight but was the first fighter on the scale for the weigh-ins and came in at 145 pounds.
“We do this weight checks that UFC makes us do weight checks. This is the lightest weight check I’ve been in a while,” Holloway said. “It’s been good.”
Volkanovski was extremely confident prior to the fight but conceded he didn’t know how the decision was going to go when it was over.
“I thought it was reasonably close. Obviously I thought I was winning but I didn’t know,” Volkanovski said. “My corner done a really good job of letting me know that and not getting caught up in (Holloway’s) game and as the rounds gone they were telling me to keep doing what I’m doing so I got full faith in them. Game plan was working well.”
Volkanovski said he was fine with a possible rematch.
“I think (Holloway) deserves it. Do I have to beat him to prove I’m a better fighter? I think we had five rounds to do it and I’m pretty sure I won it fairly clearly,” Volkanovski said. “I’ll be ready for it and he does deserve it and that will make for a big fight.”