UFC star Max Holloway continues to show he’s not going anywhere in the featherweight division. Most recently, the Hawaiian scored a close but convincing decision win over touted up-and-comer Arnold Allen of the U.K.
Holloway, 31, is as close to a striking machine as any MMA fighter in history. He recorded 147 “significant strikes” against Allen, bringing his UFC career total to 3,122, according to official stats. The second-best is the retired Frankie Edgar with 1,801.
Significant strikes are “distance strikes” or “clinch/ground strikes” that are considered “power strikes” by official UFC scorers. In other words, they do damage to an opponent. Judges must first look for damage when scoring a round.
Holloway is also the leader in total strikes with 3,366, but the gap between him and the next fighter is closer. The retired Georges St-Pierre is second with 2,591.
Holloway is on pace to have more than twice as many significant strikes as the next closest fighter, but his career is far from over. He might finish with a virtually untouchable total.
Max Holloway vs. ‘The Korean Zombie’
Holloway is a massive -800 betting odds favorite over Chan Sung Jung, better known as “The Korean Zombie” at DraftKings Sportsbook. Holloway’s opponent has +550 odds.
Following the win against Allen, Holloway appeared to be at a crossroads in his career. Holloway called for a fight against Zombie, the No. 6 ranked featherweight. The UFC booked the bout for a Fight Night card in Singapore on August 26, 2023.
Zombie quickly accepted the fight verbally following Holloway’s call out, so it was just a matter of whether the UFC wanted it. With Alex Volkanovski busy and Holloway not yet ready for another title fight, Zombie was the likely next opponent.
There were few options for Holloway. Surging prospect Ilia Topuria was booked against No. 5 ranked Josh Emmett, a fight the Spaniard won. Holloway may have to knock back another up-and-comer in Topuria before fighting for the belt again. In the meantime, Holloway will likely continue adding to his untouchable striking record.
Max Holloway UFC Career
Holloway’s first UFC fight was at the age of 20 in 2012, making him one of the youngest UFC fighters ever.
His first fight in the promotion was a loss to Dustin Poirier, a future UFC Hall of Famer. Poirier was several years older than Holloway at the time, a considerable advantage.
Holloway lost a close split decision in 2013 to Dennis Bermudez and then dropped a unanimous decision to Conor McGregor (also three years his senior) later that year. Holloway then rattled off one of the longest win streaks in UFC history, with his 13 consecutive victories coming to an end in a 2019 rematch with Poirier. Holloway moved up a weight class in that fight, as Poirier had long before transitioned and bulked up to the 155-pound weight class.
Holloway proceeded to beat Frankie Edgar in 2019 before dropping back-to-back decisions against current featherweight champ Alexander Volkanovski, who will also be a Hall of Famer.
Holloway’s next fight—a dominant victory over Calvin Kattar—was historic. He landed a record 445 significant strikes in the five-round battle—14.2% of his career total. Many observers said the fight should have been stopped earlier to save Kattar from the beating.
Following a 230-significant-strike win against Yair Rodriguez, Holloway lost again to Volkanovski in a trilogy bout. His next fight was the aforementioned win against Allen.
Holloway has landed an incredible number of significant strikes because he mostly wins (he’s also a betting odds favorite in nearly all of his matches) and started at a young age in the promotion. However, his fighting style has made him far and away the record holder. He often gets into so-called wars.
Holloway Absorbed Most Head Strikes In UFC History
Holloway’s legendary career has seen him trade blows with some of the best to ever step inside the Octagon. While he has gotten the better of all but four men in the UFC, he’s been hit often along the way. He often throws caution to the wind in the later stages of fights.
Holloway has been hit in the head by a record number of significant strikes (more than 1,300 in the UFC). That doesn’t take away much from his Hall of Fame career, but it raises eyebrows. Avoiding head trauma is extremely important, and the fighters widely regarded as the best ever—Jon Jones and Khabib Nurmagmeov, for example—weren’t hit hard very often.
Another remarkable thing about Holloway: Despite taking a record number of head blows, he’s never suffered a knockdown in his UFC career. His chin is made of steel.
To land more than 3,100 significant strikes, Holloway had to take many as well. In the historic Kattar bout, for instance, Holloway absorbed 133 significant strikes, 99 of them to the head.
Holloway acknowledged the issue in a post-fight interview with ESPN after the Allen victory:
“I didn’t want to get hit too much. I think I got hit less. People were talking about my speed, how slow I am and this and that. I wanted to show them; if you want to see a clinic, I can go out there and do a clinic without getting hit. In the Kattar fight, a lot of people said, ‘Yeah, he did that, but he gets hit a bunch.’ In this [fight], I said let’s see if I can land and not get hit.”
It mostly worked, as Allen landed 48 strikes on Holloway’s head, but some were very hard.
You need long fights to accumulate such a career total, but the best and most impressive outcome for any fighter is a quick finish.
