Max Holloway fed up hearing Jose Aldo and Frankie Edgar are Conor McGregor's only options
With an eight fight win streak, including six by way of TKO or submission, Max Holloway is awfully curious why his name isn't being mentioned by Conor McGregor when he talks about who gets the next shot at his UFC featherweight title.
McGregor fielded questions about defending the belt following his loss to Nate Diaz on Saturday night at UFC 196 and the two names that immediately surfaced were former champion Jose Aldo and Frankie Edgar.
Holloway wonders why he still doesn't get mentioned despite the most impressive win streak in the division currently while still standing as the only featherweight to actually take McGregor to a decision.
"That's what I'm asking myself right now. I see all these reports out right now that Conor is coming to 145 and only two guys to face? Everybody's forgetting," Holloway told FOX Sports on Monday. "I guess I'm the forgotten Hawaiian. I don't know what people are thinking.
"I'm over here working hard. I don't care who I fight -- I don't care to fight Conor, I don't don't care to fight (Jose) Aldo, I don't care to fight Frankie (Edgar), but if we're talking title shots, I want my name to be in the mix and I want my title shot."
When it comes to the other two leading candidates vying for a shot, Holloway isn't in the business of trash talking to make himself look better but he can't ignore the facts that are in front of him.
Holloway has a mountain of respect for Aldo, but he knows it's impossible to forget that he just faced McGregor last December and got knocked out in 13 seconds. Add to that, Aldo turned down the short notice opportunity to face McGregor at UFC 196 because he wasn't in training and didn't feel prepared enough to accept the fight.
"I'm a big fan of Jose Aldo, too, but getting hurt in the first fight and then the 13 second KO and not taking the fight again. Give me my shot," Holloway said. "They didn't call me up about the fight. If they would have called, I would have fought. I'm a fighter, that's what I do."
As for Edgar, Holloway sees the exact blueprint for how that fight plays out and he's not sure very many people would be interested in seeing it unfold.
"Let's be honest. Who wants to watch Frankie vs. Conor? We know how that fight's going to happen," Holloway said. "It's going to be Frankie trying to mix it up with him and Frankie trying to get him to the ground and try to finish him on the ground. They want to talk about numbers. I know Frankie was injured, I know Jose was injured, but they had their shots at Conor.
"I understand why they denied the fight, but at the end of the day, I didn't get the call. Yeah, I was injured, I had a sore thumb but if I would have gotten the call, I would have told the UFC I'll be there."
Holloway's frustration only mounts when he hears the argument that he still hasn't fought any of the top featherweights in front of him and that's hindering his chances of landing a rematch with McGregor for the title.
The problem is the only people ahead of Holloway in the rankings are McGregor, Edgar, Aldo and Chad Mendes, who is currently coming off two straight losses.
Holloway would gladly take any of those fights if the UFC would actually offer any of those opponents to him.
"People say I haven't fought any top guys, but I beat two guys who are on Frankie's winning streak right now and finished them faster. I finished Cub (Swanson) in the third, Frankie did it in five," Holloway explained. "He went to decision with (Charles) Oliveira and that Oliveira thing, everybody keeps saying we've got to rematch and I always hear Oliveira saying that he was injured in our fight but no one really listens when the UFC says that all reports of any injury was negative. It kind of makes me scratch my head.
"When people say I haven't fought any top five guys, it pisses me off because I fight whoever the UFC puts in front of me. They didn't give me top five guys but I've been begging. Please give me a top five guy. I'm just dumbfounded that my name isn't in there in the mix."
More than anything, Holloway would love to get the rematch with McGregor for the title.
He faced the Irishman on short notice after his original opponent Andy Ogle was forced off the card due to injury. There's also the fact that both Holloway and McGregor suffered injuries during the fight that prevented them from giving the best performance possible.
That all adds to a rematch in Holloway's mind and he'd like nothing more than for McGregor to acknowledge that it's a three-man race to get the next crack at his featherweight title.
"I want a big named fight. If you say I fought nobody, give me somebody. I keep asking the UFC to give it to me. At the end of the day, I'm a fighter. I'm just really shocked that no one seems to mention my name. I'll fight anybody. They keep talking about leading contenders and big money fights, and my name with any of those guys is a big money fight," Holloway said.
"I just want to fight for the title. I worked hard to get here. There's a new contender. Everybody else fought for a title already. Give some new blood a shot. There's a lot of questions with a McGregor vs. Holloway 2. There are questions that need to be answered. Let's do it. If I don't get that shot, there are a few guys in front of me, I'll take all of them."
