Max Holloway doesn’t expect what happened in his last fight to impact how the UFC 318 main event plays out.
Holloway is in a rare scenario leading into Saturday’s pay-per-view, as the longtime fan favorite finds himself somewhat of a villain in New Orleans.
‘Blessed’ is in hostile territory to serve as the opponent for Dustin Poirier’s UFC 318 retirement fight, which takes place in the former interim lightweight champion’s home state of Louisiana.
Holloway was knocked out by Ilia Topuria last time out in October 2024, with the Hawaiian falling short of a return to the featherweight throne. Now, the 33-year-old is tasked with spoiling someone else’s title ambitions, as he gears up for his first defense of the symbolic BMF belt.
But in the eyes of some, Holloway’s efforts against Poirier are likely to be hampered by what transpired in Abu Dhabi nine months ago.
Max Holloway eases fan worries over his post-KO return at UFC 318
During a fight week interview with Daniel Cormier, Holloway previewed his first Octagon outing of 2025 and addressed one of the top narratives leading into UFC 318.
Alexander Volkanovski pointed to Holloway’s KO loss as a potential key factor on Saturday, a sentiment shared by many fans and analysts in the MMA community.
‘Blessed’, however, is not at all concerned.
“I felt like we (were) competing,” Holloway said of the Topuria fight. “At the end of the day, he hit me with something that my body felt, like, ‘Hey, look, it’s time to go down.’
“I’m here working hard. He’s got something that I want. I want to join the elites in becoming a double champ.
“Not at all,” Holloway added, when asked if the KO was difficult to overcome. “Even everybody talking about — I see the media, I see everyone like, ‘How is he going to react after this, for his next fight? Does he not get hit?’
“I am the same man, you know what I mean?”
Max Holloway’s path to an Ilia Topuria rematch could go through the champion’s latest opponent
While Poirier will bid farewell to active MMA competition after UFC 318, Holloway has insisted that his career in the cage is far from its conclusion.
With that in mind, ‘Blessed’ is on the hunt for a shot at redemption against Topuria now that the pair are both permanent fixtures in the lightweight division.
And according to the UFC’s lead play-by-play commentator, Jon Anik, Holloway should look to go through Charles Oliveira in a rematch regardless of the result in the UFC 318 main event.
“There’s a lot of big fights for Holloway at 155 pounds, win or lose this fight,” Anik told Odds Shark. “I don’t know, man. Holloway vs. Oliveira 2? I mean, God, I think that’s the fight.”
Topuria knocked out Oliveira at UFC 317 to become the latest two-division champ in MMA’s leading promotion. As he looks to begin his own path back to ‘El Matador’, the Brazilian has also pointed to Holloway as a logical next opponent for later this year.
