Kemo
12-07-2018, 08:47 PM
Max Holloway is taking the “anything you can do, I can do better” approach going into his title defense against Brian Ortega.
This Saturday night (Dec. 8), Holloway will put his UFC featherweight gold on the line against “T-City.” This will be the second title defense for “Blessed.” Holloway and Ortega were initially set to do battle back in July, but an illness forced the champion to pull out of UFC 226.
During the UFC 231 pre-fight press conference, Holloway and Ortega exchanged words, but it was more so in the spirit of competition rather than a personal feud. Holloway said that while Ortega is a worthy challenger, his resume doesn’t quite stack up:
“He’s good. He’s a dangerous man, but everybody keeps talking about Brian and this and that. Everything the guy did, I did better. He’s on what, a six-fight win streak? I got 12. He beat a champion? I beat two — and I beat one of them twice. So at the end of the day, the ‘Blessed’ express is going around in a circle. We’re lapping you, bro. And I’m younger than you, so congratulations.”
Holloway hopes to wash away the fears over his health. “Blessed” has failed to show up on fight night for the past three title bouts. An injury was to blame for having to pull out of his planned title defense against Frankie Edgar back in February. A bad weight cut failed him ahead of a scheduled UFC lightweight title bout against Khabib Nurmagomedov in April. And of course as mentioned, the UFC 226 situation.
This Saturday night (Dec. 8), Holloway will put his UFC featherweight gold on the line against “T-City.” This will be the second title defense for “Blessed.” Holloway and Ortega were initially set to do battle back in July, but an illness forced the champion to pull out of UFC 226.
During the UFC 231 pre-fight press conference, Holloway and Ortega exchanged words, but it was more so in the spirit of competition rather than a personal feud. Holloway said that while Ortega is a worthy challenger, his resume doesn’t quite stack up:
“He’s good. He’s a dangerous man, but everybody keeps talking about Brian and this and that. Everything the guy did, I did better. He’s on what, a six-fight win streak? I got 12. He beat a champion? I beat two — and I beat one of them twice. So at the end of the day, the ‘Blessed’ express is going around in a circle. We’re lapping you, bro. And I’m younger than you, so congratulations.”
Holloway hopes to wash away the fears over his health. “Blessed” has failed to show up on fight night for the past three title bouts. An injury was to blame for having to pull out of his planned title defense against Frankie Edgar back in February. A bad weight cut failed him ahead of a scheduled UFC lightweight title bout against Khabib Nurmagomedov in April. And of course as mentioned, the UFC 226 situation.