UFC 206's Max Holloway not hating on Conor McGregor, would gladly go after second title like him

Max Holloway has history with Conor McGregor, and they certainly aren’t best buddies.

But when it became an en vogue thing for the MMA world to take shots at McGregor for attempting to become a two-division champion, Holloway didn’t share the hate.

“Everybody hates on this guy – for what? If you had the opportunity, you know damn straight you’d take it,” recently said at an event attended by MMAjunkie video partner Champions.co.

Holloway (16-3 MMA, 12-3 UFC) goes after his first UFC title on Saturday when he meets Anthony Pettis (19-5 MMA, 6-4 UFC) for the interim featherweight title in the UFC 206 main event at Air Canada Centre in Toronto. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on FS1 and UFC Fight Pass.

If Holloway captures the interim belt, he’ll get a shot at Jose Aldo, who became the featherweight titleholder again after McGregor’s 145-pound belt was removed two weeks after he made history as the first fighter to hold two titles simultaneously in the UFC. He beat Eddie Alvarez to win the lightweight title at UFC 205 and now is just the 155-pound champ and not a two-division titleholder.

But Holloway said the thought of going up to lightweight to challenge McGregor if he beats Aldo to become the lineal featherweight champ is appealing. McGregor beat Holloway by decision at UFC Fight Night 26 in Ausut 2013. It was Holloway’s most recent loss – and the only McGregor win in the UFC to go the distance.

“If I had the opportunity, yes – it’s history,” Holloway said. “I want to make history. I want to break history. Conor McGregor set this bar, and bars are always meant to be broken. If you’re not trying to shoot or break it, then why are you in the game, then? I’m not trying to be this guy just chugging along. I’m trying to be the leader of the pack.”

Against Pettis, though, the Hawaiian – who just turned 25 on Sunday – said he won’t be trying to get a “Fight of the Night” bonus. Instead, expect him to want the kind of ending that gives him an extra check for a knockout or submission because that means he was that much better than his opponent.

“I’m not trying to go for the ‘Fight of the Night’ performance – that means the guy was my equal, and I don’t want an equal in there,” Holloway said. “I go out there and I make people wonder, ‘Why is this guy here? Why did they match me with him? This is a horrible matchup.’ Max is making this guy look easy, and that’s what I plan to do.”

Check out the video above for more from Holloway ahead of UFC 206.

For more videos from Champions.co, check out the site’s YouTube page.

And for more on UFC 206, check out the UFC Rumors section of MMAjunkie.

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