Getty Image / Suhaimi Abdullah
There may not be another active fighter in the UFC who has had as prolific of a career as Max Holloway.
Over more than a decade competing in the UFC, Holloway has racked up 21 wins.
Those 21 wins put him in a tie for 6th all time and include 3 title defenses and wins over 3 UFC champs.
Earlier today, he picked up that 21st win in emphatic fashion when he knocked out “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung.
What a battle 😮💨 #UFCSingapore pic.twitter.com/t2lbVAd4ka
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) August 26, 2023
It was yet another impressive win to add to a legendary career, but it may have also come with one unfortunate side effect.
Max Holloway is stuck again.
Since losing to Conor McGregor back in 2013, Holloway has beaten just about everybody the featherweight division has to offer.
He has beaten 5 of the other 9 fighters currently in the division’s top 10 and 3 of the other 4 in the top 5, making it abundantly clear that he is the top contender in the division.
Unfortunately, it is pretty unlikely that the UFC is going to give him a title shot.
In the last 10 years, there is only one fighter that has beaten Holloway at 145.
That fighter is Alexander Volkanovski and he has beaten Holloway 3 times.
As long as Volkanovski holds on to the belt, the UFC is probably not going to be letting Holloway fight for that belt.
That leaves him without many good options for his next fight.
Ilia Topuria is the highest-ranked fighter that Holloway has yet to face. Right now, Topuria appears to be the top contender for the belt and the UFC probably won’t risk him against Holloway.
Right behind him is Josh Emmett, who has lost two in a row in dominant fashion to Topuria and Yair Rodriguez.
From there, you have to go all the way to Giga Chikadze at 9 to find an opponent that Holloway hasn’t faced, which isn’t even a matchup worth making.
Even this matchup against Korean Zombie felt somewhat forced.
With that, you have to wonder what comes next for the former champ.
He has tried lightweight once before, but there was a clear power difference between him and Dustin Poirier that made a big impact on the fight.
Maybe that will be where he decides to find his next challenge anyway as there are certainly some interesting fights that could be made for him in the division.
For now though, Max Holloway just seems kind of stuck in the UFC’s featherweight division.