Max Holloway walked out of UFC 212 as the undisputed UFC Featherweight Champion after he defeated Jose Aldo by third round TKO.
According to the new champion, the Brazilian didn’t want to compete any more after round two.
“I told myself, he’s not firing,” Holloway said on The MMA Hour. “It’s time to taunt. Let’s taunt. Let’s see if he cracks me. I taunted him — I put my hands up for a couple of seconds. And he didn’t do nothing. I was like OK, I’m gonna do it again. And he did nothing. I was like man, this guy don’t want to fight.”
Holloway did enter that fight as the UFC Interim Featherweight Champion, a title he won by defeating Anthony Pettis at UFC 206.
Even though he defeated the Brazilian MMA legend, the new champion still has a lot of respect for Aldo.
“I felt the need, because people keep f*cking trying to tarnish and throw this guy away,” Holloway said. “You’ve gotta understand what this guy did for all the little guys. He’s a pioneer for the small guys. When you think of the 35 and 45 class, the guys who built it, you think of Urijah Faber, you think of Dominick and you think Jose Aldo. Jose Aldo has been the greatest.”
The champion doesn’t have his first title defense scheduled yet, but Frankie Edgar and Cub Swanson have been vocal about getting that shot.
