Despite not being able to fight twice now, Max Holloway isn’t through with Frankie Edgar. Both seem to be moving on – Holloway defending against Brian Ortega, with Edgar in talks to fight Cub Swanson – but Holloway is confident they’ll meet eventually. He also went on record in defense of the former UFC lightweight champion, as well as Jose Aldo.

“Me and Frankie [Edgar] still got unfinished business. Everyone is talking about Frankie and [Jose] Aldo like they’re two dead guys. They say, ‘Too washed up.’ They’re still animals. They’ve been at the top of the heap. They’ve been top-five, top-three in any division they were in, forever. People keep talking about how these guys are old; we’ll see. You can’t speak on it yet. It’s a couple losses. It’s MMA.”

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“You get caught. Frankie, Aldo, these guys are not dead. They’re mid-30s and they’re fighting. People act like Frankie and Aldo are not the top-three guys. They’re still ranked in the top-three with [Brian] Ortega. Come on, guys. Let’s be serious, let’s be real. These guys are not dead, they’re not gone. They’re still around. We’ll see what happens. But right now, the path is going a different way for me with Ortega and I’m focused.” — Max Holloway speaking to MMA Junkie.

While Edgar lost against Ortega, if he and Swanson actually fight and Edgar wins, no doubt Frankie will get a third chance to fight Holloway. That is, if he can manage to keep a tight grip on the belt against Ortega himself. As for Jose Aldo, the last time he suffered a loss, he came back and beat Edgar. He may have lost two in a row to Max Holloway, but you can never count him out.

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 3/21/2018.