Once the main event of UFC 223 begins, Conor McGregor will no longer be the undisputed UFC lightweight champion.
Dana White has said on multiple occasions that once both men step into the Octagon on April 7, the winner will usurp Conor McGregor's 155 lb throne.
Following the withdrawal of Tony Ferguson, the event has a new headline act. The spoils of the lightweight strap will remain the same, but Khabib Nurmagomedov will now face Max Holloway. The featherweight champion moves up a weight class on six days' notice for the fight returning from an ankle injury that kept him off UFC 222.
If Holloway wins, he will become the second fighter to simultaneously hold two UFC belts. The first was, of course, McGregor. If Nurmagomedov is victorious, he will finally have that coveted gold strap to go with his pristine record.
Ahead of their highly-anticipated title fight, we give you everything you need to know about these two warriors. Starting with the man moving up a weight class.
https://twitter.com/SportsJOEdotie/status/980731846391730176
Max Holloway
Nickname: "Blessed".
Birthplace: Oahu, Hawaii, United States
Tale of the Tape
Age: 26, D.O.B. 4/12/1991
Height: 5'11".
Reach: 69 in.
Leg reach: 42 in.
The Dojo
Gym: Gracie Technics and Hawaii Elite
Notable training partners: UFC welterweight Yancy Medeiros, UFC bantamweight Russell Doane, Former UFC bantamweight Dustin Kimura.
https://twitter.com/SportsJOEdotie/status/971005223002169344
Performances
Record: 19-3 MMA, 15-3 UFC.
Nine of his wins have come by knockout or TKO, he has two submission victories and has gone to the judges' scorecards eight times. He was submitted by Dustin Poirier in his UFC debut, but his other two losses went the distance.
Achievements: UFC featherweight champion (one defence), interim UFC featherweight champion, four UFC Performance bonuses, one UFC Fight of the Night bonuses, X-1 Lightweight Champion.
Purple belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu under Rylan Lizares and Pedro Sauer.
Records: First American UFC featherweight champion, most bouts in UFC featherweight history (17), most wins in UFC featherweight history (13), longest win streak in UFC featherweight history (11), most finishes in UFC featherweight history (9), tied with Conor McGregor for most knockouts in UFC featherweight history (7).
Biggest win: Jose Aldo at UFC 212 and at UFC 218.
Both wins were spectacular for very different reasons, but together, they're something else. Holloway is the only man to defeat Jose Aldo, the consensus greatest featherweight of all time, twice. Not only that, but he scored back-to-back knockout victories over the legend.
To cap it all off, for the rematch, he was circling in the opposite direction from their first fight. If you want to know why that's so impressive, we highly suggest checking out
Luke Thomas' fantastic breakdown of that fight.
https://twitter.com/btsportufc/status/937194648711208961
Other notable wins: Anthony Pettis, Ricardo Lamas, Jeremy Stephens, Cub Swanson, Charles Oliveira, Cole Miller, Andre Fili, Akira Corassani, Leonard Garcia.
Last defeat: Conor McGregor at UFC Fight Night 26.
Before Holloway went on that ridiculous run to pick up the undisputed featherweight title, he was soundly beaten by McGregor. Holloway was 21, McGregor was 25 and the fight took place on the preliminary card of a Fox Sports 1 card headlined by Chael Sonnen vs Shogun Rua... it was a very different time.
McGregor blew out his anterior cruciate ligament in the fight which kept him sidelined for nearly a year. The injury meant the Dubliner was forced to rely on his wrestling. Holloway was taken down four times and was outstruck, but lasted until the final buzzer to drop a unanimous decision. He claims he was also carrying an injury which hindered his performance on the night.
https://twitter.com/BlessedMMA/status/968740652837167104
Oddities
Social Media: He's killing it on social media. Not only is he the only fighter able to match McGregor's online wit, he's bested him in more than a few exchanges. A prime example was when McGregor shared an image of him putting his paw on Holloway's face during their fight. He captioned it, 'When there is no referee to save you'.
Holloway responded very quickly with an absolute zinger.
https://twitter.com/BlessedMMA/status/960281055243587585
Sweet tooth: He goes mad for cupcakes. He explained on UFC 218 Embedded that it's tradition for him to eat cupcakes after he makes weight. Not just a couple of cupcakes, his coach literally brings him trays of those little, sugary buns.
https://twitter.com/blessedmma/status/936711480229158914?lang=en
Gamer: If you're into that sort of thing, you can find him on Twitch under the username 'BlessedMMA'. And yes, we only know what a Twitch is because of Demetrious Johnson. (Pretty sure it's YouTube for people who stream themselves playing video games???)
https://twitter.com/PROcast/status/894601253627482112?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sportsjoe.ie%2Fmma%2Fmax-holloway-workout-luigi-143101
Family man: 'Mini-Blessed' is arguably a bigger star than his father these days.
https://twitter.com/TheJivemaster/status/937110681467400192
He's supposed to box Mikey Garcia: Undefeated four-weight world champion boxer Mikey Garcia announced in a
video on social media last year that he is targeting a fight against Holloway in Hawaii. At the time, he claimed all parties involved were excited about the potential bout, but the fight has yet to come to fruition.
Catchphrase: "It is what it is."
Khabib Nurmagomedov
Nickname: "The Eagle".
Birthplace: Makhachkala, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union.
Tale of the Tape
Age: 29, D.O.B. 20/9/1988.
Height: 5'10".
Reach: 70 in.
Leg reach: 40 in.
https://twitter.com/SportsJOEdotie/status/951501799286099968
The Dojo
Gym: American Kickboxing Academy and Gadzhi Makhachev Freestyle Wrestling Club.
Notable training partners: UFC Light-heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier, former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez, former UFC women's featherweight champion Germaine de Randamie, former WSOF and PFL welterweight champion Jon Fitch, former Strikeforce lightweight champion Josh Thomson, former Bellator light heavyweight champion Liam McGeary.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BgYSfDKlKw9/?taken-by=khabib_nurmagomedov
Performances
Record: 25-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC.
Eight of his wins have come by knockout or TKO, he has eight submission victories and has gone to the judges' scorecards nine times.
Achievements: One UFC Performance bonus, 2016 International Fighter of the Year at the World MMA Awards.
2009 World Combat Sambo Championships (-74 kg) Gold Medalist, 2010 World Cup in Combat Sambo (-82 kg) Silver Medalist, 2010 World Combat Sambo Championships (-82 kg) Gold Medalist, 2009 Russian Combat Sambo Championships (-74 kg) Gold Medalist.
2012 Men's No-Gi Expert Welterweight Champion and 2012 ADCC Rules No-Gi Expert Welterweight Champion at NAGA World Championships, European Champion of Army Hand-to-Hand Combat, European Pankration Champion.
Records: Most takedowns in a single UFC fight. He nailed 21 takedowns of 27 attempts in three rounds against Abel Trujillo.
Biggest win: Edson Barboza at UFC 219. Conveniently, this was his last trip to the Octagon. On paper, it was a nightmare match-up for Nurmagomedov. Barboza is one of the most-feared strikers in the division, has a reach advantage and incredible takedown defence.
In the end, though, Nurmagomedov made it look like child's play. He mauled his way past the lionhearted Brazillian to score a dominant 30-25, 30-25, 30-24 victory. This was the one that earned him his title shot and for our money, it was his most impressive performance to date.
Other notable wins: Rafael dos Anjos, Michael Johnson, Gleison Tibau, Abel Trujillo, Pat Healy.
Last defeat: N/A.
Oddities
Seeing him fight is a blessing: Those pesky injuries have limited the number of times Nurmagomedov has appeared inside the Octagon. In 2014, there was an audible groan in the 3Arena's media room when Dana White informed media that he blew out his knee 20 minutes after signing a bout agreement to fight Donald Cerrone.
He fought once last year, twice in 2016, didn't feature at all in 2015 and once in 2014. So every time we actually get to see him fight really is a gift. Savour it.
Wrestled a bear: When he was a child, Nurmagomedov befriended a bear cub in his native Dagestan... no really. The subsequent footage of him wrestling the animal has gone down in MMA folklore.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjfOeLQG9-M
Religion: Usually, a sport's star's religious beliefs are entirely irrelevant, but not in Nurmagomedov's case. As a devout Sunni Muslim, he observes Ramadan. This means that he is unable to take fights during mid-summer because of the fasting.
https://twitter.com/TeamKhabib/status/722230850633510912
Trash talk: Nurmagomedov has been known to talk smack between rounds and even mid-fight. While mauling Michael Johnson at UFC 205, he famously told him 'to give up' because the fight was already over. Sure enough, 'The Menace' heeded his advice and tapped from a kimura in the third round.
In between rounds against Barboza, he yelled at Dana White to give him a title shot.
At one stage, he was actually fond of Conor McGregor: Hard to believe it after all the 'Irish chicken' and 'Dana's son' jabs, but there's photographic evidence to prove it.
Family man: Khabib was married in June 2013, and has a daughter and a son. He actually missed the birth of his son to fight Barboza at UFC 209.
Headgear: The hat he wears and subsequently puts on Joe Rogan is called a papakha. Before you go making a tit of yourself, it's pronounced “puh-pah-hah”. The hat is native to his homeland of Dagestan. He wears it to pay respect to his Avar heritage. According to a fascinating
FightLand article, the hat was worn by the shepherds in the 'warrior, mountain clan.'
Famous Friends: Cristiano Ronaldo, Mike Tyson and NHL star Alexander Ovechkin are among the celebrity athletes he's rubbed shoulders with.
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