Morning Report: Max Holloway labels Conor McGregor rematch as ‘hugest fight’ after BMF title win

Max Holloway has options.

It’s incredibly rare to see someone win as epically and position themselves the way Hawaii’s finest did at UFC 300 this past weekend. Now the latest fighter to hold the BMF title, Holloway can essentially decide his future within the UFC.

Holloway went toe-to-toe with one of the lightweight division’s top contenders in Justin Gaethje to capture the title. After a brilliant five-round performance that saw him clearly up on the scorecards, “Blessed” threw down in the final 10 seconds to put “The Highlight” away with a single second left on the clock. As a former featherweight champion, Holloway is interested in recapturing that crown. There are so many exciting possibilities at lightweight, though. Whether that’s defending his BMF title or challenging for undisputed gold.

However, the biggest might be against the last man to defeat Holloway at 145 pounds who isn’t named Alexander Volkanovski.

“It would be hard not to say with him finally getting announced that he’s actually fighting, Conor [McGregor] 2,” Holloway told KHON’s Rob DeMello upon his return to Hawaii. “That’s the hugest fight, I think.

“Legacy, ideal-wise, trying to get back to an undisputed title. Gotta go with [Ilia] Topuria, you know. He beat the man that I couldn’t help but figure out. We’ll see. We’re having a little bible verse beef on top of Twitter right now, so you know, life’s good. It’s looking like it’s gonna be him next, but first things first, Justin Gaethje kicked like a horse, man. I can feel it today. We’re gonna recover.”

In 2024, a large percentage of MMA fans might not even know that Holloway and McGregor have fought before. The fight took place in 2013 at featherweight and saw the Irishman best his fellow future UFC champion via a unanimous decision before he went on hiatus thanks to a torn ACL. Since then, Holloway is 18-3 in the division (21-6 at featherweight, 26-7 overall).

Holloway, 32, isn’t looking to rush back to the octagon despite the layout before him. Unsurprisingly, those kicks took their toll on the BMF king, as UFC CEO Dana White mentioned after the fight that the swelling was shockingly bad. Holloway added that he’ll be celebrating his anniversary with his wife and is excited to see his son, Rush, who “might have been more excited than I was” about the win.

A fight with Topuria is as good of a matchup that can be made in the wake of UFC 300. Both men want it and it makes sense on all fronts. Regarding the burgeoning superstar champion Topuria, “El Matador’s” dream of headlining the first UFC event in Spain is a consistent talking point. It’s unlikely that it will happen this year, but things are still trending in that direction, especially if he maintains his championship status.

Hawaii, on the other hand, is a different story. The UFC has never held an event in the state and now is as good of a time as ever with someone of Holloway’s star power. Ultimately, the powers that be have reiterated how it isn’t feasible and Holloway also understands that.

“I heard them talking about maybe having a Hawaii show down here,” Holloway said. “I know how it is. I know what it is, how much money it would cost, and to be honest, I’ve kind of come to the acceptance that I might not be able to come here. So, next best thing is the ninth island. With the infrastructure, we don’t have one [arena] big enough. That’s just it.

“A lot of people, a lot of Hawaii people we do this and that. I’m like, guys, if you want to spend money, like UFC 300 money to go watch me in the stands, be my guest. But I don’t want to do that to my people. If we come home, I want it to be big, be huge.”

In his UFC 300 post-fight scrum, Holloway countered the Hawaii talk with something like Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. The “ninth island” has treated Holloway well in the past and he thinks it’s his best location going forward. That doesn’t mean he wouldn’t like to still see something happen on home soil.

“We got a bunch of other UFC fighters on the roster,” Holloway said. “Brad [Tavares], Dan [Ige], maybe one of them can have a fight night here. Headline it, and I can here and just chillin’ and enjoy the show. If worst comes to worst, they want to utilize the Hawaii guys, we gotta go back to Vegas, man. That felt like a — you saw the flags in there at this last one. It felt like a Hawaii fight. A lot of flags. A lot of people, a lot of Hawaiians in there, so it was amazing.”

Shakeup. MMA Divisional Rankings: UFC 300 completely reshapes the global ranks

Contention. Arman Tsarukyan explains why he passed on UFC 302 title fight with Islam Makhachev

Comeback. Alan Jouban argues ‘it’s not over’ for Justin Gaethje’s title hopes despite brutal UFC 300 loss

Contemplation. Aljamain Sterling considered retirement if he lost at UFC 300: ‘I was probably done’

Beef. Ian Machado Garry calls for UFC 303 co-main event vs. ‘p****’ Colby Covington, says ‘I’ll retire him for good’

Between the Links.

Nate Diaz New York scrum.

Diaz vs. Masvidal 2 New York Pre-Fight Press Conference.

Haney-Garcia staredown.

Sound & Pound.

Free fight.

PFL Fight Week.

Sterling BTS.

Go to Twitter, use the #MorningReport hashtag, or find one of my tweets with it, and drop me a jam you’re currently really into. I’ll pick the best one alongside my daily choice and give you a shoutout! You can also share in the comments below — those are just harder to sift through sometimes!

Dang.

Machine.

Response.

Jiri.

Epic.

Hawaiian pride.

Very shy.

Right there.

Lol.

Good company.

Where does the time go?

Carlos Diego Ferreira (18-5) vs. Mateusz Rębecki (18-1); UFC St. Louis, May 11

Oumar Sy (9-0) vs. Rodolfo Bellato (12-2); UFC Vegas 92, May 18

Norbert Novenyi Jr. (7-0) vs. Dalton Rosta (9-1); Bellator Dublin, June 22

Some of you might be wondering about the poll and why I didn’t do “winner” or “loser” options for the fighters currently booked. That’s because realistically with Max’s current position, it doesn’t really matter about the outcomes for any of them to make sense, right? That’s the power of the BMF title… Yes, I also might have snuck that last one in there for the lulz. Poor Belal. BLESSED MAN FOREVER!

Thanks for reading!

If you find something you’d like to see in the Morning Report, hit up @DrakeRiggs_ on Twitter and let him know about it. Also, follow MMAFighting on Instagram and like us on Facebook.