With Conor McGregor disinterested in defending his Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Featherweight belt, the world’s leading mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion decided it was best to let top-ranked contenders Max Holloway (No. 2) and Anthony Pettis (No. 5) battle it out for the interim 145-pound strap tonight (Sat., Dec. 10, 2016) in the pay-per-view (PPV) main event of UFC 206, which took place inside Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Canada.
There was just one catch: Pettis missed weight by three pounds; therefore, Holloway was the only one who was eligible to win the interim Featherweight title and guarantee a future unification match against recently-installed division champion, Jose Aldo. And that’s exactly what happened, as Holloway matched Pettis on the feet and then eventually broke him down en route to a technical knockout stoppage in the third round.
It was a bit of a chess game to start, with both fighters circling and not getting too close, yet firing off kicks to gauge distance and test the waters. Pettis landed a super-slick spinning back kick to the body, but Holloway was unaffected ... and unimpressed. Holloway caught Pettis with a solid right hand along the cage, and then an over-the-top shot, as he began to find a little bit of a rhythym three minutes into the five, five-minute round match. Pettis tried to steal the round with a takedown at the very end, but the Hawaiian was having none of it.
Holloway was not messing around in the second stanza, dropping Pettis with a hard right hand and then refusing to follow him to the canvas — he wanted to go toe-to-toe. Pettis, his right already a mess, was trying to land some dynamic stuff, but Holloway was keeping him off balance with his movement and low kicks. It didn’t really seem like he was that comfortable, once again unable to pull the trigger and put together meaningful combinations. He worked real hard to score a takedown, again, at the end of the round but, once again, Holloway denied him.
Between rounds, Pettis revealed to his corner that his right hand was injured, perhaps even broken. As the action started, Holloway landed an inadvertent knee to Pettis’ groin that triggered a brief stoppage from the referee. Holloway landed an incredible sweep that surprised Pettis, who he once again let return to his feet. Holloway really began to run away with things in the striking department as Pettis was basically just throwing a hard left jab exclusively. Holloway scored another clean sweep, then began to drill him with kicks to the body. Pettis was clearly hurt and then Holloway landed another. Pettis covered up all the cage and Holloway began to tee off on “Showtime.” That might be an understatement — he landed 18 unanswered shots as Pettis slumped down in defeat, compelling the referee to step in and waive it off.
That’s now 10 straight victories for Holloway and, as frightening as it sounds, he continues to improve with each performance. He is talented, patient and more than deserving of a title fight against Aldo. And then, who knows, perhaps even a rematch with the self-proclaimed “Champ Champ.”
For complete UFC 206: “Holloway vs. Pettis” results, including play-by-play updates, click here.