UFC 226, which goes down this Saturday in Las Vegas, Nevada, will be headlined by a bona fide super fight, as UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier moves up to heavyweight to battle divisional champion Stipe Miocic for gold. Yet according to UFC featherweight champ Max Holloway, who battles Brian Ortega in the co-main event, that’s not the only superfight on the bill.
Speaking to Yahoo Sports this week, Holloway explained what it means to him to fight on such a big card, and assured this his fight with Ortega is every bit a super fight too.
“It’s a legacy thing and when it’s all said and done, I want to leave a legacy in whatever way,” Holloway said (via MMAMania). “If not, if it’s helping the division, if it’s fighting big names, I just want to be remembered as one of the greatest all-time to ever do this in the sport. That’s just what I want to do. I sacrifice a lot of time away from my family, away from my son and I just want to make them proud, make my family proud and my fans crowd and, you know, leave a legacy.”
“You want to be a part of the big card [like UFC 226],” Holloway continued. “You want to be part of history. We got a match in the main event going for history. One of them trying to be the longest reigning defending heavyweight champion and one of them trying to hold two belts at the same time. And then, you have a big super fight. I’m not talking about the main event. I’m talking about the co-main event, too. It means a lot to me to be able to have this spot on this card. This is like the Super Bowl of the UFC, a blockbuster, a big blockbuster hit that comes out in the summer, this is it.”
Do you consider Max Holloway’s UFC 226 fight with Brian Ortega a “super fight?”
This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 7/3/2018.