The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) was in Detroit, Michigan on Saturday, Dec. 2, for an entertaining night of fights. Fight fans were privileged to the exciting fight card of UFC 218 from inside the Little Caesars Arena. One of the night’s most stunning octagon performances came, to no surprise, from the event’s headliners.
In the night’s main event, UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway earned a chance to defend his title. That being said, the champion would end up facing off against an unexpected opponent come fight night.
Former UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar was originally scheduled to face off against Holloway for the Detroit crowd. However, Edgar would later be pulled from the match up after succumbing to an injury.
Former featherweight title holder and former opponent to Holloway, Jose Aldo stepped up on short notice to accept a challenge to fight for the title once again.
Aldo and “Scarface” first went toe-to-toe at UFC 212. Holloway came into the event as the interim champion and shocked the crowd with a title unifying TKO finish over the historically dominant featherweight champion. The reigning champion then put on another victorious performance at UFC 218.
Aldo and Holloway put on a war for the Detroit crowd, but Holloway ultimately came out on top with a second consecutive third round TKO finish over the fighter. Now Holloway has come forward to show his respect to the UFC featherweight legend.
Speaking at the UFC 218 post-fight press conference, Holloway explained that he believes Aldo’s native Brazil should be honoring the former champion around every corner.
“He doesn’t have to owe anybody anything,” Holloway said. “That guy’s one of the greatest of all time. I think Brazil should be building statues of that guy in all of the villas. He’s a legend, he’s a GOAT, and I got a lot to fill (as champion).”
The statement largely echoed Holloway’s comments to Joe Rogan during his post-fight interview. When asked if he considers himself one of the greatest featherweight of all time now, Holloway explained that all the respect should go to “Scarface.”
“No, I got a lot of catching up to do,” Max Holloway said to Rogan. “You gotta respect the man. The man got all the numbers. I gotta catch up on the title defenses, and then maybe we can talk about it.”
