Known as one of the best strikers in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Max Holloway has expressed his interest in fighting Floyd Mayweather Jr in the squared circle.
Mayweather Jr, who remains unscathed in 50 professional bouts, has announced last month that he will be coming out of retirement next year.
Currently working with UFC president Dana White, the boxing legend says they are preparing for a grand sporting spectacle in 2020, though it is not yet clear whether it will happen in the cage or in the ring.
Since his shocking announcement, there were number of UFC fighters who have joined the Mayweather sweepstakes in an attempt to land a massive fight purse.
Khabib Nurmagomedov and Jorge Masvidal said they are willing to cross the bridge to try to give Mayweather the first defeat of his career.
Now add the current UFC featherweight champion to the growing list of MMA fighters seeking crossover bouts.
Checklist Thing
In a recent interview with TMZ, the Hawaiian fan-favourite acknowledged Mayweather as one of the greatest boxers of all-time, whom he definitely wants to go up with.
“We’ll see what happens. First thing’s first, I got a big, important fight,” he said, (transcript from LowKick MMA).
“But I would love to do that (box Mayweather). He’s one of the best guys ever to do that, and to share the boxing ring with him, that’d be a checklist thing for sure.”
Holloway, who is coming off a dominant win against Frankie Edgar, is set for his fourth straight featherweight title defence this Saturday.
Regarded as one of the all-time featherweight greats, ‘Blessed’ will take on the streaking Alexander Volkanovski in the co-main event of the stacked UFC 245 – the promotion’s final pay-per-view offering in 2019.
Not Overlooking
After this fight, Holloway plans to move up to different weight classes and collect more titles to prove he is the best MMA fighter in the world.
“I want to be the best mixed martial artist in the world,” he said, per Daily Star UK.
”And being the best mixed martial artist in the world is not a guy who stays in his weight and dominates his weight. It is someone who goes to whatever weight.”
Despite being the favourite to win the UFC 245 co-main event, the Hawaiian said he is not underestimating his challenger, who is very capable of pulling off an upset.
“First thing first is Alex.”
“And if the opportunity presents itself, I’m not backing down from it. I want to be one of the greatest in this era.
“As long as I’m alive and as long as I fight, whenever I’m fighting I want people to talk about, ‘Oh, man, he’s one of the greatest of his time.’ That’s what I want to do.
“First things first, Alex is a handful. I can’t be overlooking this guy.”
(Featured Image Source: Instagram/ Max Holloway and Floyd Mayweather)