ESPN MMA’s Brett Okamoto interviews Max Holloway ahead of his return at UFC Kansas City against Arnold Allen. They discuss …
what’s up everybody Brett okamoto from ESPN joined by Max Holloway the former featherweight champion who returns to the Octagon on April 15th and it’s really good to see you Max I I’ve interviewed you I I do feel like you always tend to give us pretty good backgrounds like normally it’s from your video game lab and so you have like uh like a generated background but this is this is nice man it looks like it’s it’s very very family maxed going and yeah food is gone I feel like you did you just get a haircut you look clean right now man yeah yeah just got a haircut just did everything I mean I I felt like he was probably getting sick of the shoes so I was like I gotta I gotta change it up man I gotta change it up yeah I’m getting it like it I mean maybe it’s just because like I said it’s all video games before now but now it’s like you know the wife is in the back the kid is in the back are you feeling like grown up Max Holloway are you feeling like kind of a kind of a grown version of yourself these days yeah for sure bro for sure you know um man I’m on it I yeah I’m still young but I’m turning 32 uh at the end of the year so my wife is letting me know like it’s time to it’s time to grow up so you know I guess we’re taking steps in the right direction never grow up man never do it um how have you been man because it’s uh you haven’t really unless I’m mistaken I don’t think you’ve talked like at all since since the night of Alex of the Alex fight right I mean have you done any type of media have you really done anything out in the public no not really I mean uh we did some not not really any media we did some stuff I did some uh some stuff for uh for some group of people but that that’s about it man I mean we’ve been I’ve been streaming you know like I said you guys yeah heading over to uh Facebook gaming FB uh fp.gg backslash Max Hollow official and we’re always there but you know we’ve hardly been talking about fighting actually I’ve been talking about fighting a little more because people have been kind of persistent on there but yeah you know is this uh after that fight you know we just I I had some stuff to take care of some uh some things that I I needed to take care of taken care of and I’ll be back you know better than ever um you don’t have to go into any details obviously if it’s personal stuff but what what do you mean by that like what kind of stuff did you need to get together before yeah just just snagging injuries bro you know the the the stuff that we deal with and stuff that we’ve been pushing through for so long and we got a little window of opportunity and I was like you know we might as well we might as well take care of this now and we did all that now training been great I’ve I’ve been feeling great and uh the my my mental is in a great space so I couldn’t uh be any better did you feel like over the last nine months that you there were significant like adjustments that you wanted to make or specific like areas that you wanted to improve after the way the last fight went or was it more just about kind of resting for you I was just you know it’s always improving it’s improving it’s it’s resting um we’re in a sport right you you covered the sport for many years now we’re in a sport where this is not like MLB baseball uh the baseball or basketball where you can have a terrible game bro you know go oh for 12 from the line a couple of turnovers you’re gonna have bad strikeouts but then you play two days later four days later and you have a big game with 32 you know I fight like that you have a fight like that you don’t fight for at least at least if we if you’re trying to squeeze in and come back fast at least two months you know so you only they say you’re the only as good as your last fight and um that’s that that’s the way our sport leads you know so but I’d always told you man I always told you bro whenever we talked I you know I was yeah I was rest the rest was great you know but it’s always improving you know it’s always improving I’ve been I’ve been with the UFC for quite some time now and it’s always changing you know you see the belts change hand you see the people change hand you see the new generation come in so you got to stick up with the generation if you don’t you get left behind and uh it’s a it’s a not so pretty place to be you know in the back of the line how did you uh how did you go about what was your strategy in terms of identifying things that you wanted to improve over the last nine months uh you know it’s sit down my coaches um I talked to them uh again we we had some injuries that we had to address we addressed them sit down on them we planned out we planned out uh a master plan and we’re here now you know the first name that got done and I had or got pulled out of the Hat was on Rhode Island and um April 15 everybody get to uh if I get to watch you know and what what better way to be on top of cable TV man you know I love this kid with TV everybody’s like oh your pay-per-view did this or that you should be a Pay-per-view on my role I’m headlining a Corey ESPN bro somebody can be changing the channel it’s just like your ABC you know so like I said man the last time I was on cable TV I was like cater fighting you know great things happen so we’re looking for uh we’re looking for a performance like that come April 15th for sure and we’ll talk about April 15th but because you know you haven’t really spoke after the Alex fight how did you feel about that fight no I mean you’ve had a lot of time when you look back on it have you what have you seen if you’ve rewatched it or how did you feel on the night of the fight just some of the biggest sort of takeaways on from the night I feel good man I feel great I had a fight after the fight I mean losing sucks bro yeah I’m losing socks it is what it is but I’m not gonna hear them make no excuses that man was just a better night that night man it is what it is that that’s what happens and now what I want to say I can tell you all I didn’t feel good that night I had a sore stomach and blah blah and this and that but I hate when people whine man I hate when people make excuses and I’m not gonna make no excuses for myself I went out there I made that walk then I I I I believed I could get it done I didn’t and uh he was just a better man that night bro he looked he looked he looked super good he felt super good in there and um this is it man you know he just some people dogs got their days you know he he that was his day that day and uh we’ll go from there you know I mean we see what happens you know never say never you know a lot of people is like it’s hard it’s hard to uh get a four with him and this and that and blah blah there’s a lot of things that need to happen I’m like you can tell me whatever it is I’m not even supposed to be here you know I’m not supposed to be standing in here in front of you and I was never ever supposed to be the UFC champ at any point in my career supposedly so at that day don’t count it out you know we me and that man uh I mean we’re in the division you know all the time I’m in the division uh there’s somebody above me that that is above me one rank above me that I ended up I won before I lost that last man so uh and it has a wild sport man anything can happen uh don’t be surprised if you see a Ford with a dude because I I wouldn’t be yeah I do love that man because you’re right I mean I I won’t sugarcoat it yeah a lot of us are saying like man I don’t think I’ll ever do a fourth fight but like you said you have the experience of uh well this was never supposed to happen in my life and this was never supposed to happen in my life so I can see you know why you would you would be able to maintain you know optimism that it will happen and that anything’s possible that night of the fight were you feeling like that that’s that was just a foreign place for you to be man and like like they said it on the commentary a lot we all said it afterwards like we just never seen like Max in a fight like that you know where you lose five rounds and this isn’t a fun thing to talk about but when you were in there did you just feel like like what is wrong like like how like how did you feel that he was he was performing so much better than you on that night like how did that happen I mean things is going his way you know the first island was all right it was great and then and like I said that second round he got me a great punch bro opened up something over my eye which is was frustrating but that’s the sport you know what I mean but then again I’m not here to make excuses at all like there there’s I I hate when guys be like oh man uh he just didn’t he didn’t look like himself that guy’s lucky because oh Alex is lucky because Max didn’t look like himself he’s like maybe Alex planned for something and made you look that way you know like I I I I hate when guys be like oh that that’s not the same so-and-so that we’ve seen every day uh or every fight you know something got to be wrong it’s like maybe the other guy across the Octagon did something right that made him look that way you know so you know there’s no hate no disrespect I’m not gonna I I hate when people make excuses because I I was the guy on the other side when people would be like oh that wasn’t the best guy that night and blah blah and Max is lucky and this one’s no like what if I made him look that way you know and I’m a big believer in that Alex made me look that way and you know what we’re gonna do cry over spilled milk you know we’ll get back in the gym we’ll get better like I said man that we’re not that far off you know if he if if he’s at 45 whatever if it’s at 55 you know we we might get it back my running back but you know first things first I gotta do my job I could keep winning you know he got to do his job you gotta keep winning and and we’ll go for there you know uh there’s nothing there’s nothing to say you know I can’t I can’t point out one thing you know I could tell you 100 things that didn’t go it’s gonna go out at night but then I’m gonna just be labeled as a sore loser complain or whatever and I hate when people do that so I I ain’t trying to be one of one of those guys that kite that he opened over your eye I mean you’ve been in the fight game for a long time and you’ve fought through different things what was it like fighting through that for basically 20 minutes I mean I had I gotta cut up against Poirier and and that was like that was like to to like just missing my like that one was just like in a perfect spot right over the eye so it was pretty cool you know it was a pretty cool experience to to deal with it and all that like look like I’m one of the best guys in the world to be in there to to be uh you know constricted in certain ways with that and and uh it is what it is you know it’s just learning experience you know so now I know that I can I can go one of the best guys in the world with freaking cut over over my eye with blood draining in it so and I just it’s definitely it’s a learning process and it happened and you know we’ll go from there what kind of conversations do you have with uh your team you know your family and then even in your own head after something like that I mean that was obviously a big fight like you said Europe you believe that you can force a fourth fight with him but of course that’s going to take a little bit of time that’s going to happen things are gonna have to fall your way like what kind what kind of like inner dialogue do you have with yourself and then also with the people around you like all right where do we go from here and where how do we what do we try to learn from this like what are the conversations been like in terms of your fight career since then um well we just gotta go out there win win convincingly and and not be denied you know what I mean I mean you you and I know Brett you’ve been in this fight game long enough bro like people always say that that’s not ever gonna happen that guy’s not gonna ever fight that guy and then boom one fight happens you say a few words something changes you know we live MMA is a it’s a very like you know catch fires where if you can just if you can just ignite it they you can start a you can start a wildfire you know that’s what it is so that’s the main thing the main thing with me is this I gotta do what I can do I can control you know like uh like get a book in the fight is out of my control but what I can’t control is winning and winning in uh winning in and just just putting stamps on it just letting it know like we’re still here you know reminding people you know a lot of guys like to think that since I’ve been with the UC for so long that uh that I’m just this old guy this old vet or whatever I’m a vet in every sense if I’m not old you know I’d I barely even in my I turned 32 at the end of this year you know I mean so then a day like you guys haven’t seen the best of me yet yeah um it was interesting that you said that you and your team have like a master plan of what’s going to happen because you know coming off that fight it’s like uh sometimes when guys are in your position it’s you know go ahead and fight the next Contender but it’s not for a championship defense it’s not for Championship money you know that’s not a great position to be in like did you go through that and then how ultimately did you decide like okay 45 is going to be the path and and like like I’m gonna take this fight against Arnold Allen even though it’s just like like is that a tough spot to be in like what were those conversations in terms of where where you go with your career and what fights you’re willing to take I mean it is what it is you know uh I yeah it was hard it was hard you know like you said the championship everything internship uh pay and so on and so on but you know we got to sit down with the UFC and you know I got nothing but love for my Manhunter uh they know how much of a of a business guy in for UFC you know they know that uh you know the max max holiday business is booming so you know it is what it is you know like uh yeah I don’t got a belt but I’m one of those guys where they can put me they can’t trust on putting me at this cable TV events you know I mean the pay-per-view events and all they can’t trust if they do need somebody in a pay-per-view slot that they need to be filled you know and I’m a five-round fighter if you know even if I told him Vlog bro if I don’t pay a few cards even if it went out to uh even if we’re like the third fight or say first fight give me five rounds I don’t care I’ll fight this let’s just let you guys want that’s what you guys need uh I’m here for it and I didn’t understand that they respect that and uh it’s a business you know you know business is good when uh I get to get out there and uh and fight so you are how do you feel about um because it is tough for some guys when they hold the Bell they get used to a certain um level of pay and then they lose the bell and they’re like well hey I’m still the same guy I might not have a belt technically wrapped around my race but I’m still Max Holloway fans are still going up to see me like you you were able to get through that that sort of feeling with the UFC and you’re content with that yeah you know I think that UFC knew that you know and um and and it’s great man it’s great like I said man I uh we had a great talk with away with Hunter we’re in a great place with them and I just I just can’t wait you know the future is uh the future is very very amazing right now man it can go all kind of different ways and uh we see right now you know there’s a lot of fun matchups for me at 45 but you know the goal is always to get the bill back and uh and then there’s a few fun matchups at 55 you know I’ve seen I’ve seen a bunch of people wanted to see a bunch of fights up there with me so we’ll see what happens you know first things first is uh April 15 and we’ll go from there was attempting to go up to 155 did that ever come up as realistic possibility for this next fight oh for sure you know I mean it wasn’t uh for this next fight no but it’s always tempting to go there you know you got Killers up there and and those fights excite me and um you know we just we see what happens you know but it’s always it’s always great to go off a week class when you got a better run your waist so we’ll see what happens yeah that’s kind of what you’re waiting for you want to go up as a Chan yeah we see you know Never Say Never I mean we I I don’t know we see what the card deals with us uh uh what what the cards we get and we will go from there I believe like does it give you like um is it a good feeling to know that um you have experience at 155 you fought Destiny 48 for five rounds and yes you came up short in that fight but I bet in your mind you’re like you know give me another chance at that then I I could I could do very well at 155 Emporia is right there I mean Fourier is still ranked I think what number three number two so it’s got to give you a lot of confidence that um like there’s there’s a whole another future for me at 155 I mean I know that I can compete with with the very like the guys who are there parentally in the top five brother brother you’re talking to a man like you can you can call me cuckoo you can call me whatever you did I think I can compete with the with the best guys I once said in 185 uh heavyweight you know I mean but that’s just the type of attitude you need you know you ask any of the Champions or the guys in the top five at any weight class if what they think they can compete in and I think they all give the same answer you know so I mean even look at Alex with the last fight you know I mean with his uh what is like bro we’re all right there you know like when you’re when you become like I would say like the top three in any division like you’re just right there at any division like you understand what it takes to get there you understand not only the in the Octagon stuff that you need but the out of the Octagon stuff that you need to do and um you just it it’s just experience in time and I think so it’s it’s no surprise bro we know we can get there I know I can get there I mean not freaking Warriors is a killer you know I mean we have we had we fought twice I would love to fight him again for the fans you know it’s just it’s just an exciting fight to have to fight you know and you know and there’s a bunch of other names out there people keep wanting me to see up there so we see what happens you know Never Say Never And um first things first I got you know I I got a plan in my mind that I want to do we stick to it but if it changes it changes yeah dang that’s right I forgot that you had actually fought Fourier 145 too you’ve been around yeah your career goes back so far I can’t even remember all of it off the top of my head um so Arnold Allen man what do you like what do you think of him as a competitor and then is also just a motivating person and and uh I mean he’s he’s a very good fighter but you’ve been encountered guys like Jose Aldo you’ve been in Camp for guys like I was working off to you like is there an adjustment they’re like no disrespect obviously to him as a as a competitor he’s great as a competitor but just the name you know how was it preparing for him in Camp and then you know just what do you think of his style I I I think he’s good bro you know I mean like I told you anybody to be sharing the octagon with with me at this point my career is uh they they got to be great you know I mean they got to be good to get there to put themselves in the position to be to be fighting among the top five guys in the world uh you you got to be great you know so I I think he’s a great as a competitor I think he’s great athletic dude super super good dude uh I mean I just can’t wait you know he he excites me you know he’s in a leg dude he’s a fast dude uh I let it like Jose Aldo I I would kind of say you know he he got these little bursts in them so I’m super excited to see what unfolds you know he he he changed like uh you know fight to fight there’s not too much tape on him he fights like once a year so it’s pretty it’s pretty hard to say what he do but then every fight he kind of comes out different some things the same so I just can’t wait man I look forward to to the opportunity to share the octagon with him to go in there and uh feel what he has to uh bring and you know go get it done yeah I mean you you obviously you’ve seemed confident from the very beginning of your career man like like throughout the entirety of it you’ve always had a very very natural confidence coming off of a loss though and a fight that you really wanted did you have to battle any any doubt of like is what I’m doing working did I did I did I miss a step at a certain point like like is there any of that coming off of uh a loss like like your last one ah bro not at all not at all it sucks it stings it hurts that we lost but and sadly that was my last fight so you know everybody need a reminder need to remind everybody that we’re still here and you know I’m gonna be here for for quite a while you know and and you’re gonna see you’re gonna see you know uh uh you got to be short-minded in this game you know I mean like you gotta have a short memory you know your memory got to be whatever you know like I I got to deal with it I had I had like like the week after the deal with it look at it and watch over the fight a couple times and be like brother get over it you know I mean you need to you need to be better you need to get better and uh you know you only can’t there’s only help from there you know I mean anymore or brother everyone you said we wouldn’t be having this talk I’d be tired you know at the end of the day it is what it is you know like I it is what it was I ain’t I ain’t something ain’t mad about it uh it’s learning experience in every way and um I just get to remind people you know it’s just it’s just awesome that uh April 15 is here like I said we get to be live on ESPN Not the app you know it’s going to be on every bar every place it’s gonna be everywhere so I can’t wait for it yeah yeah um I loved your post it was like Don’t Cry For Me Argentina you know was it almost a thing with like like your fans and amazing people around you took it harder than you did was there a little bit for sure man for sure I think uh I think the fans and some of the family members and Friends really did take it harder than me because like at the end of the day they don’t know what is going in my mind so they might think oh this might be the last of they might ever see me but in my mind I was like brother it’s just a fight you know we want to the next I’d sucked that it went that way but things happen bro like that’s his life you know I mean life like to show you curveballs all the time you know sometimes you just gotta sit on it and uh and swing away so you know we’re sitting on this next one we’re gonna be aiming for the fences come on April 15th how did you did you watch live Alex versus Islam Alex no I did not watch live no no I did not watch that funny I got to watch the I got to watch the rewind and uh yeah if I was I yeah I mean like I said look there’s a difference of guys guys being uh in the top three in any division bro like the competition is there you know a lot of people was counting Alex oh I was kind of tripping out I was like bro Alex Alex is fast he’s smart he’s freaking the way he’s built like a little like a little thing you know the thing it’s just it’s it’s hard to get it’s hard to get ready for someone I got this octagon three years uh you know three times with this man five minute round you know 25 minutes like over over an hour with this guy and I just know how awkward it is finding looking at guy that finding a guy that small and that that tank like it’s just it’s weird you know and uh found out somewhat the hard way too you know yeah yeah what do you what do you make of uh Alex and yair you you obviously both familiar with both of those guys what do you think of that fighter look like I think it’d be a fun fight you know I think it basically a fun fight I think so you know Alex them is just uh coach Eugene and stuff they they come on a gay plan great game plans all the time I think they’ll come up with a great game plan for him but uh yeah year is your year is tricky bro it is tricky I like I said I’ll tell everybody all the time of year the only guy that I could stand nose to nose with him and then the high kick comes out of nowhere so it’s just uh the the man is good the man is fast the man is like I said tricky if he can if he can stay calm and I think so the fight is going to be uh it’s gonna be a super interesting fight yeah and I mean we talk about how like oh people are like Oh They’ll Never make a fourth flight with Max and Alex you go out and you look great against Arnold Allen yair beats Alex which he’ll be the underdog to do so but I don’t think anybody would say that that’s impossible to think of you know and then all of a sudden you know you’ve got a win over yeah year you get back into a title fight and and if you’re holding the belt announce comes to you again I mean it’s just it’s not that hard to Fab in like I guess yeah I mean yeah we see you know even even after I mean what I mean at the end of the day what day what is UFC gonna do yeah I mean if they if they didn’t believe that I would get a fourth fight I think so they would have probably forced my hand to go to 55 much more sooner you know but we see what happens even if he beats a year right like who’s after this and if I go out there put a statement on Arnold like who’s after this who like because that’s name names put names in front of me yeah I mean like your year is in front of me because he has the intro and title belt but like you know like in November of what 2022 you know we just had a fight you know and it was a great one but you know you guys know who came on top so you know it’s just it just reminds people that we stay here you know where do we go from here you know like at the end of the day he was like oh this and that blah blah it’s like man I I don’t know I can control what I can control I just got to go there doing my job and just keep doing my job and I mean Ken I mean Kenya Brad did you this is your job that’s what you do you know I mean can you tell like how much more guys is in front of me like it’s just it’s just it’s weird you know it puts me hey I know it puts you in a hard spot saying like but it is hard and I understand what they said but but business is business you know so we see what happens I’m gonna ask you one more thing and it’s going to kind of set you up in a place where uh you know people could see like one little let’s get kind of like clickbaity as they say you know where they like see one line and they’re like oh my God I can’t believe Max said this but the reason I’m asking this is because I I respect you know your mindset and um you know a lot of you guys have this where it’s just like I I’ve just um I’m constantly surprised by just the way you guys are able to wire yourselves you know and uh like the question I want to ask you is like do you still feel like you’re a better fighter than Alex okanovski you know and I think a lot of people would be like well like he’s not you know they fought what kind of question is that you know what I mean like yes I do believe I’m a better fighter than Alex loganowski if I didn’t believe I was a better fighter than him then why am I fighting in the same weight class of the guy like if it like that’s like actually anybody asks anybody who lost anybody do you think you’re a better fighter than this guy of course they’re gonna say because once we start saying like no I think he’s once you get the acceptance like this guy might be better than me then you don’t belong you should be tired like and guys don’t understand that you know what I mean because I a lot of people a lot of people it’s just normal guys and they’re okay with being okay if that makes sense they’re okay with being like yeah okay this guy’s bearing me and they accepted like yeah bro that’s you you know I mean like we are professional athletes it’s what we do and even if I was a professionality if if I was with you Brett and you had you was killing it and getting all the getting all the good good jobs and then actually who’s a better reporter I’m a better reporter and stuff is like yeah but Brit is like doing these jobs and you’re doing like freaking B level jobs Brett is doing X level jobs and like brother I don’t give a I’m still bearing because then that’s the goal to get there you know what I mean that’s you trying to get yourself there and and every day you’re waking up and it it’s a you versus you it’s not me versus Alex and there is it me versus me whenever I fight it’s not me versus Arnold in there it’s me versus me always you know so at the end of the day this is clickbait or not if if you don’t got the attitude then you know that’s that’s why you that’s why you’re sitting down watching me you know so at the end of the day it’s uh no disrespect to you that’s your mindset but you can’t you cannot tell somebody how to do their job or or you cannot tell somebody that how they supposed to feel you know I I go through this all the time with with my wife like I’m so like I I don’t even listen to my own thing like when we begin to argue with something argument is something I tell her you can’t feel that way and they say like who are you to tell me how I can feel I’m like yeah you’re right you know like I’m an idiot but yeah it’s crazy bro like if I didn’t think so I could I could beat uh Vlog then what the hell am I doing you know I would have went to another week class I would have retired you know I wouldn’t go do something else in my life so but I know I’m there I know I’m one of the best guys in the world and like I said you always hear me say you know to be the best you gotta be the best and the best is blessed you know no man that is perfectly put that’s perfect put and you’re absolutely right if your answer was anything else then the next question would be then why yeah why why are you doing this so uh exactly it is great to hear you say that it’s great to see you happy and clean cut and ready to go to Kansas City man I’m looking forward to seeing you out there and looking forward to your fight but I love watching you fight Max love talking to you thank you so much for the time dude I really appreciate it all right yeah man Brad thank you so much thank you for watching ESPN on YouTube for live streaming Sports and premium content subscribe to ESPN Plus