Volkanovski (25-1) defended his featherweight championship for the fourth time on Saturday night, defeating Holloway (23-7) by unanimous decision in their highly anticipated trilogy fight. All three judges scored the 145-pound title fight, which co-headlined UFC 276 inside T-Mobile Arena, a 50-45 clean sweep for the defending champion. Saturday’s five-round contest was, by far, the most definitive result of the trilogy. The two first met at UFC 245 in December 2019 and again at UFC 251 in July 2020. Volkanovski won both by decision, but the fights were extremely close — especially the rematch. In the immediate aftermath of the rematch, some in the sport still considered Holloway the true featherweight champion, but that sentiment is long gone after UFC 276. 2 Related “Look, Max Holloway is an absolute beast,” Volkanovsky said. “That intensity that he brought, that we both had the last few days, I needed it. I really needed it. I had to get him out of here. I knew I was the best. I had to remind myself of that.” The fight was fought entirely on the feet, with neither featherweight even attempting to retire until the final round. Holloway, from Waianae, Hawaii, came forward throughout the fight but struggled to land any consistent offense on the defensively sound Volkanovski. Volkanovski, meanwhile, punished Holloway throughout. He opened a deep cut on Holloway’s left eyebrow in the second round and destroyed his nose with shots in the fourth. According to UFC stats, Volkanovski outscored Holloway 204 to 161 in total strikes — and the difference I felt more intense than that for those watching the match. Volkanovski’s defense was simply superb, regularly landing heavy counter rights as Holloway ran with punches. It was Holloway who sought the takedown, unsuccessfully, in the final round — his face a bloody mess. Volkanovski, from Australia, has emerged as arguably the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world since taking Holloway’s belt in their first fight. He has now defended the title against Holloway twice, as well as Brian Ortega and Chan Sung Jung. He is currently eyeing a move to lightweight to challenge for a second belt, a proposal that UFC president Dana White has already voiced his support for. “I want to be in that octagon as much as possible,” Volkanovski said. “I want to be busy. I don’t think this department can keep me busy by itself. I want to move up.” Aside from a possible move to lightweight, Volkanovski’s next featherweight title defense could tie into a headline bout between Ortega and Yair Rodriguez on July 16. Volkanovski has now won 22 fights in a row, including 12 in the UFC. He is the fourth fighter in UFC history to win his first 12 fights in the promotion, joining Anderson Silva, Kamaru Usman and Khabib Nurmagomedov. He is also the third fighter in UFC history to win three fights against a single opponent, joining Frankie Edgar (over BJ Penn) and Tito Ortiz (over Ken Shamrock). Holloway sees a two-fight winning streak snapped. His only losses at featherweight dating back to 2014 were against Volkanovski.
