Hindsight is 20/20, eh?
If you have been following my ramblings over the past few years, you may have noticed that I rate Max Holloway very highly — and I always have. I have ranted and raved to anyone who would listen about his supreme skills that have been moulded in such a supremely short amount of time; I mean, he’s only 23, and at 23 he may have proven on Saturday night to have been next contender Conor McGregor’s best win to date.
On Saturday night, Holloway dismantled Cub Swanson. It was a coming out party of sorts for the Hawaiian, much like it was for Rockhold and Van Zant. He was fighting on Big Fox, against a featherweight who was on the cusp of a title bout just a couple of months ago, and he made it look easy.
Around the same time that Swanson was looking like a prime contender, Holloway was being looked at, by many not all, as the one skinny kid who lost to Conor McGregor with a mangled ACL, MCL, and all different kinds of CLs, all the while he was quietly knocking off some credible competition.
It’s difficult to predict what would have happened if McGregor’s knee had of stayed in place, and if it affected the outcome that much, so I won’t speculate. Putting that aside, it is safe to say that he has looked the best in there with the polarizing McGregor thus far in the UFC, and if you’re looking back at potential rematches for McGregor which may cause him the most trouble, Holloway is definitely at the top of that list.
However, that asterisk will forever loom over the fight, of course, and if the rematch between the Irishman and the Hawaiian happens in the future, you best be sure that McGregor will use it as verbal ammunition. Holloway, I’m sure, will take it in his stride.
That being said, that Holloway doesn’t exist in 2015.
2015’s edition of Max Holloway is a different animal, just like 2016’s edition of “Blessed” will be — and who knows? Maybe we will get a 2016 version of Conor McGregor, which will be unquestionably an upgrade from 2013, versus a 2016 version of Max Holloway. I don’t know about you, but I’m in.
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Meanwhile in a galaxy far far away — ahhem, Twitter — they seem to be going at it.
@TheNotoriousMMA hahahaha tag me next time don't need this subliminal message shit. We will meet again.
— Jerome-Max Holloway (@BlessedMMA) April 19, 2015