Ask and you shall receive: Max Holloway is no longer in the UFC featherweight rankings.
In a recent interview with MMA Junkie, Holloway (26-8 MMA, 22-8 UFC) requested to be removed from the 145-pound standings since he has no intention of dropping back down. Holloway’s most recent appearance came in a knockout loss to Ilia Topuria in their featherweight title fight at UFC 308.
However, Holloway is now back up at lightweight, and he plans on staying there. He defends his BMF title against the retiring Dustin Poirier (30-9 MMA, 22-8 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC 318 main event (pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+) at Smoothie King Center in New Orleans. Holloway found himself ranked the No. 5 ranked UFC lightweight after knocking out Justin Gaethje at UFC 300.
Replacing Holloway in the featherweight rankings is the debuting Steve Garcia (17-5 MMA, 6-2 UFC), who extended his winning streak to six after defeating Calvin Kattar by unanimous decision this past Saturday at UFC on ESPN 70 from Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn.
Despite being scheduled for his bantamweight debut against Said Nurmagomedov on July 26 at UFC on ABC 9 in Abu Dhabi, Bryce Mitchell (17-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC) returned to the featherweight rankings and is tied at No. 15 with Kattar.
