One good thing for Max Holloway is that even in defeat, he still has the UFC’s featherweight world championship.
Holloway (20-4) came up short for the interim lightweight belt on Saturday in the main event of UFC 236 in Atlanta, his 13-fight winning streak snapped. “Blessed” travelled through Hell against Dustin Poirier, losing a unanimous decision in what was a sensational, bloody war for the ages. Holloway was nearly knocked out in the first from multiple barrages of punches from Poirier, but the Hawaiian never gave up, never wilted under the pressure.
Holloway rallied in the fight and rocked “The Diamond” with his own punches, but the fan-favorite didn’t have quite enough firepower to keep the Louisiana native at bay and could never turn the tides in the duel. His face was busted up, lumped up and cut up, but he took his defeat in stride and gave praise to his conqueror.
“Life is chutes and ladders,” he tweeted on Sunday morning. “Sometimes we gotta take that slide down to get to the next big ladder. It is what it is. We keep playing. We keep fighting. Congrats to Dustin and Jolie. They should’ve already had a belt. Diamonds are forever.”
Holloway said he felt great moving up to lightweight, but it appears as though his future inside the Octagon will be back down at featherweight, where he is arguably the best the sport has ever seen.
“Max Holloway is so tough and such a dog,” UFC president Dana White told the media at the post-fight press conference. “Looks like he was out in the first round and comes back and makes it a five-round fight. I always wanted to see how he’d fight at 155 and what’s crazy is that he looked small at 155. I look forward to him going back to 145.
“We took him straight from the Octagon to the hospital,” White added. “I told my guys that I didn’t want him doing any interviews and to take him and straight to the hospital. He’s tough, he’s awesome, but I look forward to seeing him back at 145.”
Life is chutes and ladders. Sometimes we gotta take that slide down to get to the next big ladder. It is what it is. We keep playing. We keep fighting. Congrats to Dustin and Jolie. They should’ve already had a belt. Diamonds are forever pic.twitter.com/9IKYoZAg1P
— Max Holloway (@BlessedMMA) April 14, 2019