January 2014. Max Holloway was coming off back-to-back decision losses to Dennis Bermudez and Conor McGregor, and he felt as if his job was on the line if he dropped a third fight against Will Chope in Singapore.
He didn’t lose that fight. Instead, the Hawaiian fought with a vicious intensity, picking up Knockout of the Night honors for his second round stoppage of Chope. The win began a nine-fight winning streak that not only took him to the top of the featherweight division, but also landed him an interim title fight against Anthony Pettis this Saturday in Toronto.