After Volkanovski decisively closed out the trilogy against Max Holloway, fans wondered whether the ‘best’ is still “Blessed”, or on the downturn. Holloway took a lot of damage in his brutal war against Yair Rodriguez, and Volkanovski dominated him. He had many questions to answer in his bout against the rising Arnold Allen.
Holloway v Allen, UFC Kansas City, image – MMA Fighting
Stylistically, Allen was a perfect test to gauge where Holloway stood. He has incredible explosiveness and blinding speed. Allen made short work of Dan Hooker and was dominating Calvin Kattar before the stoppage. The stage seemed set for Allen to crack Holloway’s legendary chin and become the next title challenger.
Instead, Holloway put on another masterclass in his storied career. He absorbed Allen’s best shots and outworked the young contender over five rounds. Holloway even recreated his famous sequence from the end of his Ricardo Lamas fight, and actually dropped Allen. He remains the boogeyman of the featherweight division.
The question remains whether Holloway has another title run left in him. Logistically, he would have to win several more fights to get another shot against Volkanovski. He has now lost three consecutive bouts to the champion. Max has stated that he nonetheless plans to pursue the fourth shot. Volkanovski has cemented himself as an all-time great after his wins over Max and his impressive effort against Islam Makhachev. It is hard to see Holloway getting a win over Alex after the way their third fight went. The public may have little interest in a fourth fight. But with all of that said, Holloway is an all time great himself, and he still has more to offer. While I would not bet on a fourth fight happening, it may be too soon to rule it out entirely.
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