LOS ANGELES – When the UFC featherweight title fight between Max Holloway and Frankie Edgar was announced for UFC 240, there was quite a bit of debate on whether the right call was made, especially considering the way Alexander Volkanovski has surged through the division.
But Holloway (20-4 MMA, 16-4 UFC) is having none of that talk. The way the champion sees it, Edgar (23-6-1 MMA, 17-6-1 UFC), who had a spectacular run as a UFC lightweight champion who didn’t cut weight, is a legend of the sport and a future Hall of Famer, and that’s enough reason for Holloway to be enthused about this matchup.
“Frankie is Frankie, man,” Holloway said during a media lunch on Thursday. “If you don’t give this guy the respect that he deserves, he did something that was unthinkable in a division higher than us when he was a much smaller dude, and I can’t wait. These are the fights that excite me. The man’s a legend, the man’s a legend, and if he’s not a Hall of Famer, a future Hall of Famer, then he’s definitely a Hall of Famer in my eyes at least, and I’ve got nothing but respect for him.”
Additionally, this is a fight Holloway has wanted for a while. It was twice scheduled: First for UFC 218, for which Edgar had to withdraw due to injury; then for UFC 222, for which Holloway had to pull out.
Holloway clearly cares about his legacy, and a fight with Edgar is something he was going to get no matter how many times it took to make it happen.
“It’s not hard to get motivated at all,” Edgar said. “It’s weird, you know, because, like, I was supposed to fight him, and then it didn’t happen. Supposed to fight him again, and then it didn’t happen. So this is the first time in my career I ever had to do that with somebody, period. So, it’s not crazy hard, but he gets better, you know what I mean?”
Besides, it’s not like he’s fighting someone washed up. Edgar has won three of his past four fights, and Holloway believes Edgar could present different challenges than he would have just last year.
“So the feeling that you want someone and this, that, and you game plan for that one other thing, he’s only had one fight in between the fights we (were scheduled for),” Holloway said. “And he saw my two fights, and he got to see the different films and strategize and whatever, but it’s just different.”
For more on UFC 240, check out our MMA schedule section.
