Max Holloway won on Saturday night, but the judges disagree. Lets talk about it.
Max Holloway, according to Joe Rogan and many other MMA fanatics, is the greatest featherweight (155lbs) fighter of all time. Max Holloway won the featherweight belt in June 2017 after his victory over another UFC great, Jose Aldo. Holloway defended his belt three times, defeating Frankie Edgar, Brian Ortega, and Aldo for a second time. Holloway lost his belt in December of 2019 after he was defeated by Alexander Volkanovski by unanimous decision. Holloway wanted his belt back and he had his chance this past Saturday at UFC 251 with a rematch against Volkanovski. The fight that took place will find itself in UFC record books, but not for a good reason. Holloway was handed a loss by split decision, though I and many others saw the fight differently. I’m going to dive into why I think the judges made a mistake with their scoring decisions, why I think they scored the fight the way they did, and what is next for Holloway.
Let’s start with round one of the bout. Holloway came out a lot stronger in this fight than he did in the first fight against Volkanovski. Holloway looked more calm and smooth with his movements and overall looked well prepared for his opponent. Holloway came out swinging and landed some big shots to Volkanovski’s head early, and even caught him in the right eye causing his opponent’s eye to swell up. Then with 10 seconds left in the round, Holloway landed a high kick to Volkanovski’s head which caused him to drop to a knee. The first round went to Holloway, which all the judges agreed on, as they all scored the round 10 – 9 for Holloway. Both of the fighters landed 19 significant strikes, but Holloway landed more to the head and the body than Volkanovski.
Holloway came out just as strong in the second round, attempting to keep the momentum he had from the first round going, and he succeeded. Holloway landed two nice combinations on Volkanovski. Volkanovski would attempt to hit Holloway but his strikes weren’t doing any damage to him, with Holloway showing his impeccable defence. Volkonavski landed many significant leg kicks to the legs of Holloway, some which looked like they hurt him, even causing Holloway’s left leg to turn red. Holloway used strikes to the head and a flying knee to close the distance between the two. Then in the final 15 seconds, Holloway landed a hard left-jab to Volkanovski’s face causing him to fall to one knee again. Holloway took round two as well, and it looked like all he needed to do was win just one of the final three rounds to secure a victory.
Then came the third and most controversial of this five-round fight. Volkanovski knew he had likely lost the first two rounds, so he came out strong in the third. Landing significant shots to the face and head of Holloway, it looked like he was starting to figure him out. Volkanovski landed a hard jab to Holloway’s face which caused him to get distracted, and Volkanovski took advantage. He got Holloway in a clinch up against the cage, though Holloway quickly worked his way out of it by landing a hard knee to the body of Volkanovski. Holloway would get hit hard at the end of the round from a jab by Volkanovski. The third round could’ve gone either way. Both fighters landed many significant strikes, and while Volkanovski did secure a clinch, Holloway got out of it quickly. All three judges scored the third round 10 – 9 for Volkanovski though, making the fight 2 – 1 in favour of Holloway.
The fourth round was largely controlled by Volkanovski, and from the start it looked like this fight was going to come down to a decision, as both fighters showed they were hurt but that they (probably) were not going to get knocked out. Volkanovski continued to go after Holloway’s already bruised leg, causing him more pain, but Holloway continued to switch his stance and land effective shots. Holloway did land two significant uppercuts to Volkanovski’s jaw but got into a body lock and ended up on his back for a quick moment, something the judges seemed to use when scoring the round. Volkanovski attempted a take-down near the midway part of the round but Holloway defended it with a series of quick uppercuts to create distance. The round was close but it looked like Holloway had done enough to win the round, but the judges all disagreed – all three of them scored the round 10 – 9 for Volkanovski. Now the fighters didn’t know it yet, but the fight was tied and the fifth and final round would decide who went home with the belt.
At the start of the fifth round, Holloway landed a smooth kick to the face of Volkanovski, but it was quickly followed up with a jab that landed Holloway up against the cage. The two seemed to have signature moves in the final round, with Holloway landing many uppercuts to the jaw of Volkanovski, while Volkanovski continued to hammer Holloway with quick left jabs. The two looked as even as they could possibly be. Volkanovski swept Holloway’s feet causing him to trip, but he quickly got back to his feet. In the final seconds of the round, Volkanovski tripped Holloway again and although it didn’t lead to anything, it just might have won Volkanovski the round, and subsequently the fight.
The president of the UFC, Dana White, has never been one to shy away from speaking his mind, and he constantly says in press conferences that the fighters have to try their best to not leave the fight in the judges’ hands. The judges are not hired by the UFC but employed by the commission that puts on the fight. This is generally a good thing, as the judges don’t hold any bias towards certain fighters from the UFC; however, it also means that White can’t pick the best judges like he can with referees. White knows that the judging can easily end up incorrect, which is a horrible thing, especially when a belt and possibly millions of dollars are on the line. The fighters went to the center of the ring and referee Herb Dean grabbed each of their arms while Bruce Buffer announced the judges’ decision. One judge scoring the fight 48 – 47 Volkanovksi, another scoring it 48 – 47 for Holloway, and the final judge scoring the bout 48 – 47 for … Volkanovski. The champ had retained his belt, and now Holloway would have to wait for another opponent, and likely beat whoever that is in order to get a chance at a third meeting between the two. Although the toughest round to score should have been the third, it was the fifth and final round that led to the split-decision. Like I said earlier, that last second trip on Holloway by Volkanovski in the final round probably won him the fight.
The problem with the decision is that it was clear by everybody watching the fight that Holloway had done significantly more damage to Volkanovski than Volkanovski had done to him, but that’s not how judges score the fights. Nobody really knows the judges’ scoring methods, but it does seem that from this bout and more decisions like it, is that the judges seem to give more points for take-downs than they do with strikes or kicks. This is flawed because as we saw with this fight, sometimes take-downs don’t lead to significant damage. Holloway was taken down three times in this fight, but every time he came back to his feet quickly and showed no signs that he was seriously injured.
I do want to add that I think the fight was amazing, and I do think that Holloway did deserve the win, but that doesn’t take anything away from Volkanovski’s performance. Volkanovski is a true champ and one hell of a fighter, and my gripes with the decision have to do with the judges and not with Volkanovski.
What’s next for Holloway though? Like I said before, he will have to fight one and maybe two more opponents before he has a chance at the belt again. My guess is that Holloway, who is still the number one ranked featherweight, will fight the number two ranked, Zabit Magomedsharipov. I think whoever wins that fight will get a direct shot at the belt, but there is a chance that if Holloway does beat Zabit, which I think he can, he might have to fight and defeat at-least one more opponent before we get Volkanovski vs Holloway 3. The good thing for Holloway is that if he does have to fight someone else after Zabit, it will probably be against someone he has already beaten (Jose Aldo or Brian Ortega).
At UFC 251, on a stacked card that included the return of Jorge Masvidal, and fan-favourite Rose Namajunas, the most interesting fight was between Holloway and Volkanovski. If the fight was scored differently and Holloway had won, it likely would have been awarded the fight of the night, an award that eventually went to Namajunas and her opponent Jessica Andrade. Sometimes things just don’t get the way they should, but one thing can be promised and that is that Max Holloway put on one hell of a performance Saturday night and he will be back to try and get a chance at UFC glory once again very soon.
