It takes a mighty fight IQ to impress Max Holloway, but the UFC’s BMF champion thinks one athlete set to make the walk this weekend has exactly that.
Mixed martial arts’ leading promotion is back across the pond this week, staging an event in a UK city other than London for the first time since pre-pandemic. The host venue falls in Manchester, with two titles fights and a host of intriguing bouts set to go down inside the Co-op Live arena.
Topping the lineup will be a pair of English titleholders in welterweight kingpin Leon Edwards and interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall. While the former targets his third successful defense at the expense of Belal Muhammad, the latter will be putting his strap on the line for the first time opposite Curtis Blaydes.
Like most, Holloway has his eyes firmly locked on those two championship collisions. And one of them will see a fighter who boasts a particular talent lauded by “Blessed” enter the Octagon…
Holloway Commends Edwards’ Fight IQ Ahead Of UFC 304
During a video recently uploaded to his YouTube channel, Holloway provided his breakdowns and predictions for the major matchups set to play out in Manchester on Saturday night.
In terms of the main event, “Blessed” acknowledged that both Edwards and his challenger are “tacticians.” But when it comes to overall fight IQ, the BMF champ suggested that very few can match what “Rocky” brings to the table.
“Belal is a tactician. he’s a gameplanner. He does not stray away from his gameplan,” Holloway said. “But so does Leon, bro. Leon is a tactician. He’s a gameplanner. He sticks to his gameplan no matter what. … A lot of people were counting Leon out (ahead of the Covington fight) like he was gonna get grappled.
“Leon is one of the very few IQs in this game that I respect, man,” Holloway continued. “His fight IQ is super high, super smart. It’s just hard to go against the champ here, bro. I think Belal puts on a fight. Early in the fight, I think it’s a tough fight. But then when we get to the third and then the championship rounds, I think Leon is gonna take over.”
Interestingly, Muhammad has branded his fight IQ as one of the aspects of his game that is being most underrated in the lead-up to UFC 304.
He’ll look to prove that’s the case by using his intelligence and strategical approach to upset the odds and get the better of Edwards on fight night, achieving his long-held goal of UFC title glory in the process.
