Max Holloway would “love” to fight Conor McGregor again, says McGregor talks about all opponents except him

Max Holloway is trying to work his way into a title fight in the UFC’s featherweight division, and he’s got one of the strongest cases of any fighter given an eight-fight winning streak into Saturday’s UFC 199 event. He says he’s not looking past opponent Ricardo Lamas, but his mind continues to be on current champ Conor McGregor, and a rematch with the man anywhere.

“I don’t care if it is for a title. I don’t care if it is [at 155 lbs]. I don’t care if it is at 170 [lbs]. I’d love to fight that guy again,” Holloway said of McGregor in an interview with ESPN.com. “If you go listen to this guy talk, he talks about every single one of his opponents except for one. That one from Hawaii, a Hawaiian kid that he couldn’t finish. It makes me laugh. It makes me trip out that he doesn’t talk. I think it is a respect thing.”

The 24-year-old has continued to improve every facet of his game since making his debut in the organization on short notice just over four years ago, and he’s striving to be among the elite as he continues moving forward.

“You have got to be well armed in this game,” he said. “If you want to be one of the elites, you’ve got to be great everywhere. That is what I want to do. I want to be a legend. I want to be one of the greats.”

Penick’s Analysis: The hold up in the featherweight division certainly plays against Holloway at this point, as he’s going to still be behind the Jose Aldo-Frankie Edgar winner regardless of what happens on Saturday night, but he’s getting close, and if he beats Lamas, then scores a win in the fall for a tenth straight victory, that title fight’s coming his way in 2017.

[Photo (c) Gary A. Vasquez via USA Today Sports]

Attention iPhone/iPad and Android users, if you’ve enjoyed our app in the past and followed us there, or if you’ve never checked it out, make sure to update to the latest version in the Apple store and/or Google Play store. We’ve launched a new look for the app, in line with our recent desktop overhaul. Make sure to check it out!

For current App users, swipe right to view next article, swipe left to view previous article.