Max Holloway 'ain't no sore loser,' but thought he won UFC 245 title fight vs. Alexander Volkanovski

LAS VEGAS – Despite suffering the most significant loss of his career, Max Holloway was in good spirits after dropping the featherweight title to Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 245.

Volkanovski (21-1 MMA, 8-0 UFC) took a unanimous decision from Holloway (21-5 MMA, 17-5 UFC) in Saturday’s co-headliner, marking the Hawaiian’s first defeat at 145 pounds since 2013.

The fight was largely competitive over five rounds, but in the end, Holloway felt he should’ve got the nod because of his work from the second to fifth round.

“I don’t want to sound like no sore loser,” Holloway told reporters, including MMA Junkie, at the UFC 245 post-fight press conference. “I haven’t watched the tape or nothing, but I thought I had enough. But there’s two guys that opinions who matters the most and them two didn’t treat it my way. But it is what it is. We’ll be back. Like I said, I’m only 28. I’m only 28 guys and we’ll be back when I’m ready.”

Prior to UFC 245, which took place at T-Mobile Arena, Holloway had put together one of not only the great runs in featherweight history, but UFC history overall. He said he takes the blame for the result, though, because if he wanted to keep the title, he should’ve finished the fight.

“I thought the first round I was feeling him out, so he did what he did in the first round,” Holloway said. “Second round, I thought I was taking over, then three, four, five I thought was mine. But they saw it other ways. There’s only three opinions who matter. Like Burt Watson said, ‘Don’t leave it to the judges, they’ll make you cry.’ They made me cry twice in 2019, so let’s look forward to 2020. New year, new me.”

Following the loss of his belt, Holloway was questioned about his next move. His resume certainly holds grounds for a rematch, but a move up to the lightweight division has long been a discussion around “Blessed,” as well.

Holloway said he’s open to all options going forward. He wasn’t willing to commit to anything, though, and said it all depends on conversations with his family, coaches, management and the UFC brass.

“I will sit down with my team,” Holloway said. “I’ll sit down my team, watch the tape. It is what it is. I’m a fighter, I fight. But it’s a team decision with me. It’s not all about myself. I’m going to sit down with my team, sit down with Dana then we’ll go from there.”