UFC 212 Preview
There are long waits and then there is the wait that Max Holloway had to endure before finally receiving his title shot.
Holloway was the poster boy for what can happen when your name isn’t necessarily at the same level of your talent.
It has been an issue for the last few years in the UFC where it seems that name recognition is the one main factor in getting a fighter to the title shot.
No matter the talent of the fighter big fights tend to go to the bigger names leaving many of the passionate fans to wonder how certain fighters aren’t getting the same chances.
At the same time, the UFC is a business that is continuing to grow and certain names sell tickets and help the promotion grow in the eyes of the public.
That is their goal and sometimes it gets in the way of seeing the best fights that involve the best fighters.
For the Hawaiian fighter, this was what he was caught up in for years as he was clearly one of the best fighters but not a major name.
He worked his way through just about everyone in the featherweight division during a winning streak that began in 2014.
Holloway has faced the best of the best throughout this now 10-fight win streak and in all of that time, he is only getting his first real title shot now.
It comes after he beat Anthony Pettis to win the interim featherweight title while the UFC was figuring out the division.
It was once ruled by Conor McGregor but he never once defended his belt after he beat Jose Aldo, moving on to face Nate Diaz twice and also winning the lightweight title.
It was a time when the division was up in the air and it made things only worse for Holloway who didn’t seem to be getting a shot from McGregor.
Like the UFC, McGregor wanted big fights against big names and Holloway wasn’t one of those big names.
He earned an interim shot against Pettis with the title shot in the near future for whoever took the win, although nobody quite knew who the champion would be.
By the time the fight came around McGregor had been stripped of the belt for his inactivity while Aldo beat Frankie Edgar for the interim title.
Holloway looked for a win and a title shot against Aldo, and he did just that beating Pettis and finally earning his chance at the title.
To get that title and to put himself alongside Royce Gracie with the fifth-longest winning streak in UFC history he will need to take on one of the most dominant fighters in the past few years.
Aldo was once a fighter that nobody thought would give up his belt to anyone and since entering the UFC he has been a very tough fighter to beat.
McGregor was the only fighter to beat Aldo in the UFC and a big part of that was likely due to the emotion in the lead-up to the fight.
He is by no means an easy out and he is looking to put that one loss far behind him and make it a small bump in what has already been a hall of fame career.
A win in this title unification bout will be his tenth total title defence in the UFC and is sure to set off another run through the remains of the division.
Obviously, he hopes that any wins will lead to a rematch with McGregor although the Irishman seems like he might not want to return to the division, or even to the UFC for that matter.
Aldo is attempting to solidify a legacy while Holloway is looking to prove that his win streak was not just a fluke but that he belongs as the title holder in the UFC.
It has been one of the longest waits in the UFC to get a shot at the title but the wait is finally over and now everyone will get to see just how good Holloway will be.
He has never truly been in this spot as the headliner of a pay-per-view where he is responsible for building the entire fight.
His Pettis fight was the main event in a pay-per-view but only because the main event was cancelled, last-minute.
This will be the first time that he is one of the two names selling the fight and the media and everything that goes with that is new to Holloway.
Not to mention that he will take on Aldo in his home country of Brazil which only adds to the mountain ahead of the Hawaiian.
If he can handle it all he may very well be the nest champion because he certainly has shown the skills to beat just about everyone in the division.
A win against Aldo could make him that big name but Aldo is a tough out and will be bringing his best to another title defence.
The Sport Addiction 