UFC fans have watched Max Holloway grow up in the promotion and evolve into the elite level competitor that we now see today. The incredible success that he has achieved hasn't been without some adjustments along the way and a former opponent of his found that out first hand.
At UFC 308 this Saturday, Holloway will challenge Ilia Topuria for the featherweight title in his return to 145-pounds. "Blessed" has faced his fair share of heavy hitters in the past but seeing how he deals with the boxing and power of the champion is a massive factor in this fight.
When top-10 ranked featherweight Arnold Allen faced Holloway over five rounds in April last year, the Brit was surprised by the way that the former champion fought him.
Rather than bringing his usual brand of forward pressure and high output, the BMF titleholder was happy to counter strike and showed a different side to his game. We saw the same thing in his last fight against Justin Gaethje at UFC 300 where aside from the final few seconds, Holloway didn't need to put himself in harm's way to be effective.
Allen highlighted this during his breakdown video for the main event on October 26. "Almighty" spoke about some of the changes that he has noticed from "Blessed" in recent times.
Max Holloway kind of reinvigorated his style since fighting me. He made some adjustments. He started breaking distance, coming in and out, kicking more, being a little bit smarter like not taking so many shots. Not being in the pocket and just trying to out-will you. I do think one of things when I fought him that we or I didn’t respect enough is his fight IQ.
Allen also spoke about how Holloway is still able to pressure his opponents without constantly being in their faces. This ability to control the distance without trading with "El Matador" could be a massive factor in his attempt to reclaim the featherweight gold.
One of the things I really like that he’s done since making some adjustments is he disengages but he keeps the pressure on and there’s definitely an art to it. He’ll leave the danger but he’s still in the range for pressure, it’s hard to explain.”
