As the highly anticipated rematch between Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaejthe draws ever closer at UFC 291, former UFC Featherweight Champion Max Holloway has thrown his name into the hat for a shot at the UFC BMF belt.
Despite holding a 3-3 record in his last six fights, the 31-year-old once again established himself as one of the greatest UFC athletes of all time by dominating England’s Arnold Allen. Since 2013, Holloway has only lost in UFC title fights against Alexander Volkanovski and Poirier.
This Saturday at UFC 291, Justin Gaethje will look to avenge his 2018 loss to “The Diamond”. However, this time around, the BMF belt, previously held by Jorge Masvidal, will be up for grabs.
Despite not laying claim to UFC gold, Holloway has the aura of a champion and believes that he’s next in line for a shot at the BMF belt and eyes up a clash between the winner of 291’s main event.
“I wanna throw my name out in that hat sooner or later now that the BMF belt is around 155. That would be cool.” Holloway said on Poirier vs Gaethje 2 on his YouTube channel “I would love to fight either of these guys just for fan purposes and this is a fan fight. This is a huge fight.”
“I’m glad these guys have the opportunity to win the BMF belt. These guys are studs.”
Max Holloway History vs Poirier
The Hawaiian native and Poirier have stood across each other in the octagon on two occasions. It was Poirier who came out on top in both. In their first meeting at UFC 143 in 2012, Poirier handed Holloway his first professional loss via a triangle arm bar.
In their 2019 rematch, Poirier had his hand raised in a fight of the night showdown and claimed the interim UFC Lightweight Championship.
Holloways 291 Preview
No matter the victor come Saturday night, a match up between Holloway and Poirier, or Gaethje will certainly be action packed. Knowing both fighters all too well, Holloway feels that durability will be a deciding factor.
“This fight right here to me is — whoever wins this fight is the person who’s going to simply take the more damage, who simply can last longer than the other. These two guys, I mean, this is fight of the year written all over it, bro. If you want a fight-of-the-year contender, this is a fight right here that is a fight of the year.
“Dustin with his boxing, Gaethje with his boxing. Bro, Gaethje just makes any fight crazy. He makes any fight just absolutely insane, a dog fight, a warrior fight, whatever you want to call it, Gaethje just makes it an ugly messy fight.
At the end of the day, Dustin Poirier’s Dustin Poirier, bro. He had the highest of the highs, the lowest of the lows in the sport. They both did. I think this fight is gonna be crazy.”
Quotes via MMA Fighting
How do you see Poirier vs Gaethje 2 playing out? Would you like to see Max Holloway have a crack at the BMF strap? Let us know in the comments below.
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
