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Holloway's road

Holloway makes UFC history and reiterates claims for McGregor rematch

“I’d fight him any day of the week.”

UFC Fight Night Boston Max Holloway was defeated by Conor McGregor in August 2013. Gregory Payan Gregory Payan

MAX HOLLOWAY PICKED up another win last night but not in a manner he would have wanted.

Competing in a UFC main event for the first time in his 13-fight career with the organisation, Holloway (14-3) defeated Charles Oliveira (20-5-0-1) via TKO after just 1:39 of the first round at UFC Fight Night 74 in Saskatoon, Canada.

However, the bout ended in unfortunate and unusual circumstances, with referee Herb Dean forced to bring it to a premature halt due to an injury to Oliveira.

After his double-leg takedown attempt was stuffed by Holloway, Oliveira got back to his feet but quickly waved the white flag. No diagnosis of the injury has been confirmed as of yet, but the Brazilian appeared to damage his shoulder or neck during the exchange.

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It was an anti-climactic finish to an eagerly-anticipated bout between two of the featherweight division’s rising stars, but it gave Holloway his seventh victory on the trot, as he continues his very impressive recovery from his 2013 defeat to Conor McGregor.

Despite being the only fighter to last the distance with McGregor, Holloway was largely outclassed by the Dubliner, who suffered an ACL knee injury in the second round. However, Holloway later claimed that he too was injured during the bout.

The 23-year-old Hawaiian is keen on a rematch with McGregor and he’s going about it the right way. His last three wins have come against Cole Miller, Cub Swanson and Charles Oliveira, and he’s now the youngest fighter in history to win 10 UFC bouts.

The general consensus is that Jose Aldo and Frankie Edgar are the only two worthy opponents left for Conor McGregor in the 145lbs division before he makes his inevitable move up to lightweight, but Holloway is doing all that could be asked of him to secure a second shot at the interim champion.

UFC Fight Night Boston Max Holloway is the youngest fighter to win 10 bouts in the UFC. Gregory Payan Gregory Payan

Holloway mentioned after last night’s win that he’s interested in taking on Frankie Edgar next, but when asked about McGregor, he said: “I’d fight him any day of the week. Now that I don’t have a fight I can talk how I feel. I’ll fight him any day of the week.

“UFC could have called me up for the last one [at UFC 189] and I would have taken it. But they didn’t, they chose Chad [Mendes] instead and I’d love to fight him.”

Perhaps a move to 155lbs represents Holloway’s best chance of crossing paths with McGregor again. However, a win over number one featherweight contender Edgar would make Holloway’s calls for a rematch with McGregor difficult to ignore.

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