LAS VEGAS >> It took Max Holloway five years to reach the top of the UFC’s featherweight division.
Twenty-five minutes or less on Saturday will determine if Holloway ever gets there again.
The UFC’s No. 6-ranked pound-for-pound fighter enters his trilogy fight against 145-pound titleholder Alexander Volkanovski in the co-main event of UFC 276 at T-Mobile Arena knowing it’s his last chance to dethrone the Australian champion, who has never lost in a UFC cage.
It’s rare for a fighter to get a third opportunity in less than three years against an opponent who has already beaten him twice.
A third loss would put the rivalry between the two to bed — regardless of how close the outcome.
“This is a legacy fight, 100 percent,” Holloway (23-6, 19-6 UFC) said Wednesday during the UFC media day event at the UFC Apex. “We’re on the higher end of the pound-for-pound ranks and these don’t happen in the past decade … This is huge in every way. To be honest, people are calling us the main event of this card and that’s saying a lot about this fight.”
The main event pits middleweights Israel Adesanya and Jared Cannonier.
Holloway has remained the UFC’s No. 1-ranked featherweight behind the champ with resounding victories against Calvin Kattar and Yair Rodriguez since suffering back-to-back losses to Volkanovski.
Holloway believes he won the second fight, as did UFC President Dana White.
The official result was a split decision with two of the three judges giving Volkanovski a 48-47 score.
Volkanovski has said all along he feels he won the second fight and for awhile, didn’t feel the need to challenge Holloway a third time.
That changed after Holloway’s last two outings.
“It’s the biggest fight I could do right now and everybody wants to see it and that’s it,” Volkanovski (24-1, 11-0) said Wednesday. “I’ll give him credit. He was stubborn and goes, ‘ain’t no one taking that No. 1 spot from me.’ He stood there and took out other guys and didn’t let them get a shot at me so he gets that shot at me.”
Holloway has said leading up to the fight that he expects it to end in three rounds or less.
He has won a record 18 UFC fights at 145 pounds and has recorded the two largest striking differentials ever in any weight class.
His 10 finishes are the most in featherweight history and he’s landed 2,848 significant strikes in his UFC career, another record.
The difference with Volkanovski is his ability to stay in the pocket against Holloway and match his activity throughout the previous 10 rounds.
Volkanovski landed 75 leg kicks against Holloway in the first fight and 67 in the second, which rank as the top two marks in featherweight history.
“I think he’s still going to fight the fight he has to fight to try to win,” Volkanovski said. “He’s a gamer, man, so you know he’s going to bring it. That’s his style. We’re going to probably see the same Max who comes forward and wants to put his hands on me.”
The gap between the two fighters and everybody else in the division is as wide as any weight class in recent years.
Holloway will participate in a title fight for the ninth time and is 5-3 in those bouts. He’s fought four times against fighters currently ranked in the top seven of the pound-for-pound rankings and is 3-0 against the four fighters ranked behind him in the division.
Volkanovski is ranked second pound-for-pound behind welterweight champion Kamaru Usman.
Brian Ortega, who is ranked second behind Holloway at 145 pounds, has been dominated in one-sided fights by both fighters.
“I carry myself like a champion. It’s not a champion mindset, it’s a championship responsibility,” Holloway said. “I had 10 rounds with this guy and if you watch from the first to the second fight, two different fighters. From the second to this fight it’s going to be different fighters again.”
After three straight decision wins in title fights, Volkanovski TKO’d Chan Sung Jung in the fourth round of a fight in April. He’s already back fighting three months later and hopes to get the dominant win to allow him to potentially challenge for a second world title at 155 pounds.
“We’re both pretty durable guys. We’re both tough and we know how to pull ourselves out of a pretty (bad) situation,” Volkanovski said. “I want to end it early and I think I definitely can and again, I feel like the chin has got to go soon. I know I’m landing on him. I’m going to land on him big and many times. If it ends inside the three (rounds) I think that’s me getting the finish though.”
UFC 276
Saturday
T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas
Main card, 4 p.m., ESPN+ PPV
Co-main event
UFC featherweight title fight
Alexander Volkanovski (24-1, 11-0) vs. Max Holloway (23-6, 19-6)
