Dana White: After UFC Vegas 42 win, Holloway vs. Volkanovski 3 ‘makes sense’

When it comes to amazing mixed martial arts fights, we are truly “Blessed.”

We’re just one week removed from an amazing Fight of the Year candidate in Gaethje vs. Chandler and now you can add Max Holloway vs. Yair Rodriguez into the mix. Both men went to war in the cage at UFC Vegas 42, and both men dug deep into their arsenals to produce one of the most stunning displays of combat sports we’ve ever seen.

“Insane. One of the best fights I’ve ever seen,” UFC president Dana White said during the post fight press conference. “And the fact that Yair was off for two years, comes in and puts on a performance like this ... it’s unheard of. Incredible!”

“And then Max, you don’t think he’s going to make it out of the second round because of the calf kicks. And then after he makes it into the fifth round, I’m like ‘He’s probably not going to be able to walk out of the Octagon by himself.’ He’s walking around back there like nothing even happened. He said his leg is fine. I told him ‘You are a lunatic.’ It’s unbelievable how tough this guy is.”

In the end it was Max Holloway who had his hand raised with the judges giving him the fight 49–46, 48–47, and 48–47 (watch the highlights here). The performance was so good, White practically declared him next up for featherweight champ Alexander Volkanovski, despite the fact that “The Great” already has two wins over Holloway in the last two years.

“Yeah, I mean it’s one of those things – they’re razor thin [losses to Volkanovski], he just comes in and puts on a performance like this,” White said. “This is just a guy that Volkanovski’s going to have to just get him out of the way and do it again, you know what I mean?”

It’s not an option even Max Holloway considered likely coming into UFC Vegas 42. Instead “Blessed” had talked about potential superfights in different weight classes and even different sports ... something White shut down immediately.

“No boxing, guys,” he said. “One more person asks me about boxing I’ll throw my phone at them. No boxing. No boxing.”

“I don’t know what’s next for Max, but it does make sense to see him and Volkanovski again,” White concluded. “Conor’s not even ... Conor’s still hurt. To even talk about Conor is silly.”