Max Holloway has declared he is unlikely to fight again in the UFC this year.
Holloway spoiled Dustin Poirier’s retirement party at UFC 318 last month to retain his BMF title, but has since confirmed he suffered a ‘stupid injury’ in the fight.
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‘Blessed’ retained the BMF title at UFC 318 on July 19Credit: Getty
Having been knocked out by Ilia Topuria in a featherweight title bout at UFC 308 in October, Holloway was back to his best against Poirier, outpointing ‘The Diamond’ on his move back up to lightweight.
The win brought Holloway back into the title picture at lightweight, with ‘Blessed’ now eager to exact revenge against the Georgian-born Spanish fighter, who was crowned the king at 155 lbs after defeating Charles Oliveira in June.
However, Holloway’s plans for a quick turnaround have now been hampered, as he confirmed an injury to his right hand in his first interview since defeating Poirier.
Max Holloway confirms injury from Dustin Poirier UFC 318 fight
“Talk about him being as strong as a diamond, my right hand still hurts!” Holloway explained via his YouTube channel on Friday.
“I see a lot of people talking about who’s next, who’s this, there’s a lot of fun fights for me at 155 lbs.
“There’s [Charles] Oliveira, if Justin [Gaethje] gets the next title shot, that would be cool.
“If I get the next title shot, that’d be sick, but if you have hopes of me fighting before the end of the year, [that’s] probably not going to happen.
“I’ll see a specialist sometime this week. I already met with my doctor, and now I’ve got to go meet the specialist, but things are not looking too up for me, [in terms of] fighting one more time this year.
“So all of that fight talk is on still, so we just get to see how the 155 lb division is going to pan out.”
Topuria became the UFC’s No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter after he knocked out Oliveira and is now gearing up for the first defence of his lightweight belt.
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Holloway outpointed Poirier after five rounds at UFC 318 in LouisianaCredit: Getty
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And it sounds like the win will be his first and only fight in 2025Credit: Getty
The ex-featherweight champion has been linked to a fight with Paddy Pimblett, Arman Tsarukyan, or Justin Gaethje next, although nothing has been made official yet.
‘El Matador’ has insisted that he won’t defend the belt against Tsarukyan, who he has labelled unworthy of the title shot, leaving Pimblett and Gaethje as the favourites.
Holloway believes talks of him not being in the title scene are ‘wild,’ as it wasn’t long ago he finished Gaethje in a Knockout of the Year at UFC 300.
“What’s next? I couldn’t tell you,” the 33-year-old from Hawaii added.
“Now this stupid injury [has] pushed me back a little bit, so we don’t know what’s going to happen.
“But even if I didn’t have this injury, the talks are wild… A lot of people are saying me [fighting] Ilia doesn’t make sense, because my last fight before this one was [with] Ilia, and he did what he did to me.
Ilia Topuria’s Next UFC Fight Options
For the lightweight title
Paddy PimblettMax HollowayJustin GaethjeArman Tsarukyan
“But then how do you make a case for someone that I fought, [Gaethje] — I know he didn’t fight Ilia, but I fought him — I did what I did to him, and he’s going to fight next for the title after just winning one [fight].
“Because most of you guys don’t know what you’re talking about. Most of you guys don’t know s*** about fighting. At the end of the day, it is what it is, and we’ll see what happens.
“Now, there’s a wrench in our plans because of this injury, but whatever, we get to see the way it plays out now.”
With Holloway now likely out until the start of 2026, the UFC have an extra bit of breathing room when it comes to deciding Topuria’s next opponent.
Gaethje has said that he will retire from MMA if he isn’t awarded a title shot next.
However, UFC CEO Dana White may favour a bout between Topuria and Liverpudlian Pimblett due to the pair’s longtime rivalry.
Max Holloway calls for radical UFC format change after retaining title in Dustin Poirier win