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ufc 206

Devastating Holloway stops Pettis to set up featherweight unification fight against Aldo

New interim champion targets Aldo fight in early 2017.

UFC - Ultimate Fighting Championship / YouTube

MAX HOLLOWAY IS the new UFC interim featherweight champion — and he doesn’t want to wait for his shot at Jose Aldo.

Holloway racked up his 10th straight win as he stopped Anthony Pettis in the third round of their main event at UFC 206 in Toronto.

And he immediately set his sights on 11 Feb and UFC 208 in Brooklyn as the perfect date for a 145lb unification showdown with Aldo.

After Conor McGregor made history as the first man to simultaneously hold belts at two weights, he was stripped of his undisputed featherweight title and it was handed back to Aldo.

Now the Brazilian will have to come out of his semi-retirement to defend the belt against Holloway, who took his record to 17-3 and became only the sixth fighter in the UFC to record 10 straight wins.

With Pettis failing to make weight, the interim title was only available to Holloway, but he made no mistake with a clinical stoppage late in the third.

“This is just my ticket to Jose Waldo,” an excitable Holloway said as he mocked Aldo.

“#WheresJoseWaldo? Let me know when you guys find him. I’ll be waiting.”

Earlier in the night, Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone made it four wins from four at welterweight with a walk-off KO against Matt Brown.

Cerrone landed a left kick to head in the opening exchanges of the third round, dropping Brown and forcing referee John McCarthy to call a halt.

Cub Swanson showed that he is still a force to be reckoned with at featherweight, beating Do Hoo Choi by unanimous decision in a bout instantly described by some as a Fight of the Year contender.

UFC 206 results

Main card:

  • Max Holloway def. Anthony Pettis KO (R3, 4:50)
  • Donald Cerrone def. Matt Brown KO (R3, 0:34)
  • Cub Swanson def. Doo Ho Choi UD (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
  • Kelvin Gastelum def. Tim Kennedy TKO (R3, 2:45)
  • Emil Meek def. Jordan Mein UD (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Prelims:

  • Misha Cirkunov def. Nikita Krylov SUB (Guillotine) (R1, 4:38)
  • Olivier Aubin-Mercier def. Drew Dober SUB (RNC) (R2, 2:57)
  • Viviane Pereira def. Valerie Letourneau SD (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
  • Matthew Lopez def. Mitch Gagnon UD (29-28, 29-28, 29-27)
  • Lando Vannata def. John Makdessi KO (R1, 1:40)
  • Rustam Khabilov def. Jason Saggo UD (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
  • Dustin Ortiz def. Zach Makovsky SD (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

– An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Jose Aldo had not fought since December 2015; he fought Frankie Edgar at UFC 200 in July 2016 and won the interim featherweight title.

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