Max Holloway isn’t letting his unanimous decision loss to Dustin Poirier stop him from going after two big lightweight fights.

Back in April, Holloway competed for the interim 155-pound gold. Standing in his way was Poirier, someone who beat him years prior via submission. While Holloway fought hard, he was once again bested by “The Diamond.” The good news for Holloway is, his featherweight gold wasn’t on the line and he still rules the roost at 145 pounds.

The competitor in “Blessed” won’t allow him to be satisfied with just the featherweight title. Speaking to ESPN’s Brett Okamoto, Holloway said bouts with Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor are still in reach:

“The Khabib fight is still there. I think the Khabib fight is still there. The fans still want the Khabib fight which is very interesting. The Irishman fight, if he ever figures it out, that fight is still there. There’s a lot of interesting things to do. 155 is not that far, it isn’t that far.

“In April I told you guys, I was saying it over, go look at the old interviews, that I was going to come back to 145 no matter what happened,” Holloway said. “We’re here now and I wanted to come back to 145 in the summer and that’s the plan. I ain’t got nothing but time, we only turned 28, people keep forgetting. I have been around for a long time, you guys saw me grow up in this game.”


Holloway must take care of business later this month. On July 27, Holloway will put his featherweight championship on the line against Frankie Edgar. The title bout is set to headline UFC 240 inside Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.