Known for his fast hands and high pace, you sometimes forget that these high-level strikers actually have skills on the ground. That’s when it’s always great to see someone like Max receive their brown belt, especially in the gi!
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Max went on to his Instagram to post the news saying “A wise man once said. “All the time you put on the mat is one thing no one will ever be able to take away from you.” Got an upgrade in my belt yesterday but the work ain’t done yet. Let’s goooo 🙌🏻”. Holloway was promoted to brown belt by his black belt coach Ryan Lizares out of Gracie Technics Jiu-Jitsu.
Max has come a long way since his UFC debut days. As a fresh-faced blue belt, his grappling and more notably his striking has improved over the last 9 years in the organisation, so it’s no surprise to see him level up.
Max’s last win was in 2015, when he submitted BJJ black belt Cub Swanson via Guillotine, the rest of his wins have either come via TKO or a judges decision. In fact, Max has only ever had two submission victories his entire UFC career, and one submission loss against Dustin Poirier during his UFC debut.
Max is considered one of the greatest featherweights to grace the UFC octagon. After defeating Jose Aldo in 2017 to win the title, he defended it three times before losing it to the current champion Alexander Volkanovski in December 2019.
Hollow’s most recent win came from an incredibly dominant performance against Calvin Kattar in January 2021 at UFC on ABC.