Max Holloway


Jerome Max Keli'i Holloway is an American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Lightweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, where he is a former UFC Featherweight Champion and the current symbolic UFC champions#BMF Title|UFC "BMF" titleholder]. He is considered one of the greatest Featherweights of all time. As of January 27, 2026, he is #4 in the UFC lightweight rankings and as of November 25, 2025, he is #10 in the UFC men's pound-for-pound rankings.
Holloway holds the UFC records for significant strikes landed - Career|most significant strikes] and total strikes, with no other fighter within 1,000 of either mark. He also owns multiple UFC featherweight records, including most wins, longest winning streak, most finishes, and most knockout victories. Fight Matrix ranks him as the third-greatest featherweight of all time and the eighth-greatest pound-for-pound fighter in MMA history.

Background

Holloway was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, and raised in Waianae, an area known for fist fighting. He is of Native Hawaiian and Samoan ancestry. Holloway's parents were heavy drug users, his mother Missy Kapoi being a crystal meth consumer who later recovered. His father, Mark Holloway, who constantly abused his mother, left when Max was around 11 years old. Max started training in kickboxing in 2007 at the end of his sophomore year, aged 15, out of Team Ruthless, and went on to win his first amateur bout in the sport after three days of training. He graduated from Waianae High School in 2010.

Mixed martial arts career

Early MMA career

At the age of 19, Holloway had amassed a record of 4–0. He gained recognition as the #7 featherweight prospect of 2012 in Bloody Elbow's 2012 World MMA Scouting Report and was compared with former UFC and former WEC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis, due to his ability to incorporate a wide array of flying and spinning kicks, knees and elbows into his striking game. He would later go on to defeat Pettis to capture the UFC interim featherweight championship before unifying the title.
His early career was highlighted by a split decision win over former Strikeforce and WEC veteran Harris Sarmiento on March 12, 2011, earning himself the lightweight strap for the Hawaii-based X-1 promotion.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Early fights

Holloway was the youngest fighter on the UFC roster when he made his promotional debut as an injury replacement for Ricardo Lamas at UFC 143 on February 4, 2012, against Dustin Poirier. He lost the fight via submission in the first round.
In his second fight, Holloway faced Pat Schilling on June 1, 2012, at The Ultimate Fighter 15 Finale. Holloway won via unanimous decision.
Holloway defeated Justin Lawrence, on August 11, 2012, at UFC 150. Holloway won the fight via TKO in the second round.
Holloway fought Leonard Garcia on December 29, 2012, at UFC 155, replacing an injured Cody McKenzie. Holloway won the close fight via split decision.
Holloway faced Dennis Bermudez on May 25, 2013, at UFC 160. He lost the fight controversially via split decision. 11 out of 11 media members scored the fight in favor of Holloway.
Holloway faced Conor McGregor on August 17, 2013, at UFC Fight Night 26. He lost the fight via unanimous decision.

Win streak and title run

Holloway faced promotional newcomer Will Chope on January 4, 2014, at UFC Fight Night 34. Holloway won the fight via TKO in the second round. The win also earned Holloway his first Knockout of the Night bonus.
Holloway faced Andre Fili on April 26, 2014, at UFC 172. He won the back-and-forth fight after submitting Fili in the third round.
Holloway was expected to face Mirsad Bektić on August 23, 2014, at UFC Fight Night 49, replacing an injured Ernest Chavez. However, Bektic pulled out of the bout in the week leading up to the event and was replaced by promotional newcomer Clay Collard. Holloway won the fight via TKO in the third round.
Holloway again served as a replacement and faced Akira Corassani on October 4, 2014, at UFC Fight Night 53, filling in for Chan Sung Jung. He won the fight via knockout in the first round. The win earned Holloway his first Performance of the Night bonus award.
Holloway faced Cole Miller on February 15, 2015, at UFC Fight Night 60. Holloway won via unanimous decision.
Holloway faced Cub Swanson on April 18, 2015, at UFC on Fox 15. Holloway finished the fight with a mounted guillotine in the third round. The win also earned Holloway his second Performance of the Night bonus award.
Holloway faced Charles Oliveira on August 23, 2015, at UFC Fight Night 74. He won the fight via TKO in the first round after Oliveira suffered an apparent neck/shoulder injury while defending a takedown and was unable to continue. The injury was later described as a micro-tear in his esophagus, although the UFC later released a statement clarifying that Oliveira had no major injuries. With the win, Holloway became the youngest fighter in UFC history to get 10 wins.
Holloway faced Jeremy Stephens on December 12, 2015, at UFC 194. Holloway won the fight via unanimous decision.
Holloway faced Ricardo Lamas on June 4, 2016, at UFC 199. He won via unanimous decision.

Interim Featherweight Champion and unification

Holloway faced Anthony Pettis for the interim UFC Featherweight Championship on December 10, 2016, at UFC 206. At the weigh-ins, Pettis came in at 148 lbs., three pounds over the featherweight limit of 145 lbs for a championship fight. As a result, in case Pettis were to win the fight with Holloway, he would be ineligible for the UFC championship. Pettis was also fined 20% of his purse, which went to Holloway and the bout proceeded at a catchweight. Holloway won the fight via TKO in the third round and was awarded a Performance of the Night bonus.
Holloway faced the featherweight champion José Aldo in a title unification bout on June 3, 2017, at UFC 212. After facing some early adversity, Holloway defeated Aldo via TKO in the third round and earned his first Fight of the Night bonus award for the bout.

Featherweight Champion and pursuit of Lightweight gold

On October 4, 2017, Holloway revealed that he had signed a new multi-fight deal with UFC. Holloway was expected to face Frankie Edgar on December 2, 2017, at UFC 218; however, on November 8, 2017, Edgar withdrew from the card due to injury and was replaced by José Aldo. Holloway won the fight via TKO in the third round and defended the UFC Featherweight belt.
The bout with Edgar was rescheduled and was expected to take place on March 3, 2018, at UFC 222. However, it was announced on February 3, 2018, that Holloway had been forced to pull out of the bout due to a leg injury.
File:Paige VanZant & Max Holloway 180426-D-SW162-1092.jpg|thumb|Holloway and Paige VanZant board a C-130 aircraft at Bagram Airfield bound for Kandahar Airfield visiting U.S. servicemembers stationed in Afghanistan in 2018.
On April 1, 2018, Holloway was announced as a late replacement for the injured Tony Ferguson in a fight for the vacant undisputed UFC Lightweight Championship at UFC 223 against Khabib Nurmagomedov to be held on April 7, 2018. If victorious, Holloway would be only the second fighter in UFC history to hold titles in two different divisions simultaneously. Holloway, who had no fight scheduled and was not in a training camp, accepted the fight with only six days to prepare. On April 6, as he was due to weigh in, Holloway was pulled from the card by New York State Athletic Commission doctors due to the severity of his short-notice weight cut. The bout continued with Al Iaquinta as a last minute replacement for Holloway.
Holloway was then scheduled to defend his UFC Featherweight Championship title on July 7, 2018, at UFC 226 against Brian Ortega. However, on July 4, Holloway was pulled from the fight due to "concussion like symptoms".
For his second title defense, Holloway faced Brian Ortega in the main event at UFC 231 in Toronto, Canada on December 8, 2018. Holloway won the fight via TKO at the end of fourth round by doctor stoppage. This win earned him the Fight of the Night and Performance of the Night awards. Holloway broke the record for most significant strikes in one fight with 290, broke the record for landing 134 of those significant strikes in a round, and set the record for most victories in UFC featherweight history with fifteen. Holloway would later surpass his own significant strike records against Calvin Kattar at UFC on ABC 1.
As a result of the Khabib Nurmagomedov incident at UFC 229, the then lightweight champion Nurmagomedov was unable to defend his undisputed title until late 2019 which led to an interim lightweight title fight. For the interim UFC Lightweight Championship, Holloway moved up a weight class to face Dustin Poirier in a rematch. He lost the back-and-forth fight by unanimous decision. This fight earned him the Fight of the Night award.
Holloway came back down to featherweight, and a bout against former UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar was scheduled a third time and eventually took place on July 27, 2019, in the main event of UFC 240. Holloway won the fight by unanimous decision, successfully defending his featherweight title for a third time.
In his fourth title defense, Holloway faced Alexander Volkanovski on December 14, 2019, at UFC 245. He lost the fight via unanimous decision, ending his featherweight reign.

Post championship dominance and Volkanovski trilogy

Holloway faced Alexander Volkanovski in a rematch for the UFC Featherweight Championship on July 12 at UFC 251. He lost the fight via controversial split decision. Among media outlets, 18 out of 27 media scores gave it to Holloway. The decision was further criticized by UFC president Dana White, former referee and Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts co-creator John McCarthy, and multiple mixed martial artists.
Holloway faced Calvin Kattar on January 16, 2021, headlining UFC on ABC 1. Holloway dominated Kattar for all 5 rounds and won by unanimous decision, with two judges scoring the fight 50–43 and one judge scoring it 50–42 in his favor. As of February 2025, this is one of four bouts in UFC history to have a 50–42 scorecard. During the last two minutes of the fifth round, Holloway landed a two-punch combo and proceeded to stare at the commentary team sitting cage-side and talk to them, while effortlessly dodging Kattar's strikes and yelling "I'm the best boxer in the UFC!" to him, which generated talk about an homage to Muhammad Ali, known for his showboating. Holloway set the UFC single-fight records for total strikes landed and attempted, significant strikes landed and attempted, strike differential, distance strikes landed, significant head strikes landed and significant body strikes landed. His fourth round also set the record for strikes and significant strikes landed. Both fighters earned the Fight of the Night award.
Holloway was scheduled to face Yair Rodríguez on July 17, 2021, at UFC on [ESPN 26]. On June 17, 2021, reports stated that Holloway was forced to pull out of the fight with Rodríguez due to injury. The bout was rescheduled and Holloway faced Rodriguez on November 13, 2021, at UFC Fight Night 197. He won the fight via unanimous decision. Both fighters earned the Fight of the Night award.
Holloway was scheduled to face Alexander Volkanovski for the UFC Featherweight Championship on March 5, 2022, at UFC 272. However, a day after the fight announcement, Holloway was forced to pull from the event due to injury. The trilogy bout was rescheduled to occur at UFC 276 on July 2, 2022. Holloway lost the bout via unanimous decision.
Holloway faced Arnold Allen on April 15, 2023, at UFC on ESPN 44. He won the fight by unanimous decision.
Holloway faced Jung Chan-sung on August 26, 2023, at UFC Fight Night 225. He won the bout via knockout at the beginning of the third round. This bout earned him a Fight of the Night award.

Return to Lightweight, BMF Champion, and Featherweight title fight

Holloway faced Justin Gaethje in a lightweight bout on April 13, 2024, at UFC 300 for the symbolic UFC 'BMF' belt. Holloway won the BMF championship by knockout in the last second of round five, tying the record for the latest knockout win in UFC history. Due to the UFC increasing the payout of post fight bonuses from $50,000 to $300,000 for the event, this fight earned him a $300,000 Performance of the Night award and a $300,000 Fight of the Night award totalling $600,000. Holloway received universal acclaim for his performance against Gaethje, with his knockout being proclaimed as being among the greatest and most shocking in the sport's history.
Holloway faced champion Ilia Topuria for the UFC Featherweight Championship on October 26, 2024, at UFC 308. He lost the fight by knockout in the third round, leading to the first knockout loss of his career.
In February 2025, Holloway confirmed via Twitter that he will stay at Lightweight permanently.
Holloway became the first person to defend the UFC 'BMF' belt against former interim UFC Lightweight Champion Dustin Poirier in a trilogy bout on July 19, 2025, at UFC 318, which was Poirier's retirement bout. Holloway won the fight by unanimous decision.
In early August 2025, Holloway revealed he would not be able to compete later in the year due to a hand injury resulting from the most recent bout against Poirier.
During the UFC 2026 seasonal press conference it was announced that Holloway will be defending his symbolic UFC 'BMF' belt in a rematch against former UFC Lightweight Champion Charles Oliveira at UFC 326 on March 7, 2026.

Personal life

Holloway married his long-time girlfriend Kaimana Pa'aluhi in 2012, with whom he has one son. The couple separated in 2014 before divorcing in 2017.
Holloway began dating Hawaiian pro surfer Alessa Quizon in early 2020. They married on April 16, 2022.

Championships and accomplishments

Pay-per-view bouts