At UFC 194, Conor McGregor and Jose Aldo will square off to prove who the true king of the 145-pound division is. The interim champ McGregor is coming into the fight as nearly a two-to-one favorite over Aldo, who hasn’t lost in over nine-years and has successfully defended his belt a record seven times.
All this is very puzzling to number-five ranked Max Holloway.
“You know it is crazy, it is what it is, it’s all politics though,” Holloway told MMASucka.com. “My mind was blown when I saw that, like how are you gonna give the reigning champion that he’s been the king of the division forever and he misses one fight and now he’s the underdog. I don’t really care too much, I don’t think about betting and gambling and rankings all that stuff, it’s all politics”
At UFC 189, McGregor was expected to take on Aldo, however a rib injury forced the champ out of action and Chad Mendes stepped in. The Irishman stopped Mendes in the second round, earning him the interim belt.
There were plenty of excuses thrown out there about McGregor’s victory, as Mendes didn’t have a full training camp and whatnot. Holloway didn’t agree with these naysayers and thought “Notorious” fought a good fight.
“Good fight for Conor you know, it is what it is. I hear people talking excuses and talking and this and that and backking up Chad. You know Chad wouldn’t take that fight if he didn’t think he could win and you know Conor just caught him early with some good body shots that slowed him down a lot so I think Conor just had a good fight, he fought smart and stuck to his gameplan and went out there and did his thing. You can’t go hating on him man.”
If all goes as planned for the 23-year-old Hawaiian, he could be the next title challenger for that 145-pound gold. Holloway steps inside the Octagon against Charles Oliveira in the main event at UFC Fight Night 74 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan on August 23.
