Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Featherweights (sorta) Max Holloway and Anthony Pettis clashed in pursuit of the interim belt (for one of them) last night (Dec. 10, 2016) at UFC 206 in Air Canada Center in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Despite his opponent’s inability to make weight, Holloway’s objectives remained the same. The Hawaiian had a chance to extend his streak to 10 and guarantee a true title shot of his own, so the "Blessed" fighter was still more than motivated. Pettis’ inability to make weight was not entirely surprising, but it left him in a very bad position. Win or lose, Pettis would not become the interim title holder, and there’s a decent chance he would wind up back at Lightweight anyway.
In the match up of lanky kickers, it was "Showtime" who took the outside and played the kicking game. Meanwhile, Holloway pressured his opponent and looked to box. While the round was definitely close, Pettis edged his opponent out in the first five minutes. He was able to land a higher number of effective kicks, and he scored with some hard counter punchers as well. Holloway landed some decent combinations, but it wasn’t enough to counter his opponent’s volume.
Still, the fight was just getting started.
Holloway turned it up to start the second round, dropping his foe briefly with a right hand. Holloway continued to move well, getting into boxing range more often. Holloway’s body work was beginning to take effect by the second half of the round, as Pettis was breathing far more heavily and allowed Holloway to land more often. By the end of the round, the former Lightweight champion was hunting for takedowns.
Holloway was pulling away heading into the third round.
Pettis’ right hand was potentially broken, and he was relying on his kicks more than ever because of it. Between his kicks and jabs, Pettis actually was landing fairly well, but he wasn’t able to match his opponent’s activity. Additionally, Holloway landed a couple of slick trips from the kickboxing range, slamming Pettis to the mat.
As he sensed his opponent fading, Holloway turned it up with a series of body kicks. These crumpled Pettis against the fence, allowing Holloway to tee off on him and force an end to this contest.
Your new interim champion, ladies and gentleman.
Holloway did his thing, overwhelming Pettis with body shots and volume. Even before Pettis’ scale fail, this was definitely the game plan. Holloway is a very technical striker with solid power, but it’s really his activity that separates him from the pack. Fighters simply cannot keep up with the Hawaiian, and he’s able to make his opponent’s look bad because of it.
Additionally, Holloway’s grappling looked better than ever. The throws from the kickboxing range he landed were slick, and he stuffed each of his foe’s takedown attempts with ease. More than that, he punished his opponent for even trying, landing short elbows and knees.
This is a big moment for Holloway. The interim title may be fairly meaningless, but he capped off his 10-fight win streak by becoming the first man to ever stop Anthony Pettis. Aldo is next, but this is still a huge accomplishment on its own.
As for Pettis, he looked pretty damn sharp in the opening round. However, the drop to 145 lbs. saps his conditioning considerably, which is a really bad consequence opposite the division’s best body puncher and volume kickboxer. Unless he managed to land an early finish, Pettis was in for some pain as the fight wore on. Even before this fight, I wasn’t a fan of Pettis at Featherweight. His chances to capturing the belt again someday are far higher at his natural weight class anyway, but his inability to make weight here makes moving back up a pretty obvious choice.
Last night, Max Holloway broke his foe down and finished him in the third. Can Holloway dethrone Jose Aldo?
For complete UFC 206 "Holloway vs Pettis" results and play-by-play, click HERE!