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ASSOCIATED PRESS / 2017
Max Holloway, standing in front of the state flag of Hawaii, prepared to fight Jose Aldo of Brazil during a UFC 218 featherweight mixed martial arts bout in Detroit.
Waianae’s Max Holloway held off a strong challenge from Yair Rodriguez to earn a unanimous decision in the main event of today’s UFC Fight Night event in Las Vegas.
The judges scored the contest 49-46, 48-47, 48-47 in favor of Holloway, who improved to 23-6 overall and 19-6 in the UFC.
Rodriguez, who pushed Holloway to the limit and opened a cut over Holloway’s right eye in the fifth round, is now 13-3-1 and 8-2-1 in the UFC.
“His boxing is pretty good,” Holloway said. “Fair game to him. This guy is a beast. That’s why I wanted to fight him.”
Holloway, who has landed more than 3,000 strikes in his UFC career, took heavy damage to the leg early in the fight.
Holloway responded with work to the body and earned two takedowns in the third round.
The Star-Advertiser scored the fight 49-46 in Holloway’s favor.
“Max is an amazing fighter. He has a lot of experience and he did an amazing job,” Rodriguez said.
Holloway landed 230 significant strikes and 251 total strikes. Rodrigues landed 159 significant strikes and 186 total strikes.
Both fighters were transported to a local hospital immediately after the fight according to the UFC.
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