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Max Holloway had to dig deep to survive.
Now he’s got all of the options a prize fighter would ever want in front of him.
The former UFC featherweight champion took everything Yair Rodriguez had and found a way to gut out a unanimous decision in the main event of Saturday’s UFC Fight Night event at the Apex Center in Las Vegas.
The judges scored the fight 49-46, 48-47 and 48-47 for Holloway, who earned a fight bonus for a record ninth time at 145 pounds.
The Star-Advertiser’s Billy Hull scored the fight 49-46 for the Waianae fighter.
Holloway (23-6, 19-6 UFC) landed 251 strikes against Rodriguez (13-3-1, 8-2-1) to become the first fighter in history to amass more than 3,000 strikes landed in his career.
“Max is an amazing fighter. He has a lot of experience and he did an amazing job,” said Rodriguez, who landed 186 strikes and likely broke his foot during the fight.
Both fighters were transported to a local hospital after the fight, according to 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.”
Rodriguez spent the first two rounds attacking Holloway’s leg. Holloway responded with heavy shots to the body.
The first decisive round came in the third when Holloway scored two of his three takedowns in the fight and caused both of Rodriguez’s eyes to swell up.
Rodriguez was told by his corner after the fourth round he needed a finish to win in the fifth and came out swinging.
Midway through the round, he opened up a nasty cut over Holloway’s right eye, but couldn’t finish the fight.
“All love to Yair. This guy is a beast,” Holloway said.
With two victories since losing back-to-back decisions to current featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski, Holloway has lots of options for his next fight.
There’s the obvious trilogy fight against Volkanovski, but Holloway has hinted at wanting to fight 155-pound champion Charles Oliveira, whom Holloway beat by first-round TKO in 2015.
Then there’s the big-money fight against Conor McGregor, who has been active chiding Holloway on social media, and posted a video of him staring down Holloway on his television before the fight started.
As usual, Holloway said his future is in the hands of the UFC matchmakers.
“I got a win over the 155-pound champion, we got Alex and stuff, I’m on the short list for Conor McGregor,” Holloway said. “We ready whenever.”
UFC president Dana White didn’t commit to Holloway’s next opponent during the post-fight press conference.
“Nothing right now,” White said. “We’ll get into the office on Tuesday and look at it and figure things out.”
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