Max Holloway once asked Conor McGregor if he was okay during the middle of a fight after the Irishman let out a ‘hurtful scream’.
The pair clashed at the very beginning of their professional MMA careers in August 2013, in what was only McGregor’s second fight in the UFC.
The defeat to McGregor changed everything for HollowayGetty Images – Getty
Holloway challenges Ilia Topuria for the featherweight title this Saturday in the main event of UFC 308.
McGregor, meanwhile, hasn’t appeared in the octagon since he broke his leg in a trilogy fight with Dustin Poirier three years ago.
“He took me down, I had him in half-guard and he was passing,” Holloway said on Flagrant.
“I had his ankle and right when he had passed I hit – that’s how he hurt his knee in the fight, he hurt his knee – and he screamed and went ‘AHHH’.
“[It was] a hurtful scream. So I’m in there on the bottom holding him. I was like: ‘Are you okay?’. He’s like: ‘Yeah, yeah, keep fighting mate’.
“You can actually see me do this hip movement – It’s a funny movement – and then he screamed, I was like, ‘What the hell! Are you okay?’.”
‘Blessed’ had a brutal start to his UFC career, losing three of his first six bouts in Dana White’s promotion.
He lost to McGregor via unanimous-decision after three rounds, marking a second consecutive UFC loss as he had been defeated by Dennis Bermudez three months prior.
However, his loss to ‘The Notorious’ also marked a significant change in fortunes, as Holloway proceeded to embark on a 13-fight win streak, claiming featherweight gold along the way.
The Hawaiin native’s career record is stacked with blockbuster victories, including back-to-back featherweight title defences over Jose Aldo in 2017.
Holloway is one of the greatest UFC fighters of all timeGetty
He also defeated Charles Oliveira, Anthony Pettis and Brian Ortega en route to the UFC’s summit, but then lost a trilogy of bouts to Alexander Volkanovski as he attempted to become a two-division champion.
Holloway knocked out Justin Gaethje with one second left on the clock at UFC 300 to earn a shot at UFC gold once again.
This weekend, he fights the man who dethroned Volkanovski of his featherweight belt at UFC 298.
‘The Great’ was shockingly knocked out by Topuria in February this year, marking his first UFC loss at 145lbs following a string of 13 undefeated bouts.
Topuria’s vicious knockout of Volkanovski was his seventh consecutive UFC victory.
The Spaniard has arguably the most unique fighting style in the organisation, having finished five of his seven fights by KO, TKO or submission.
In the build-up to his highly-anticipated bout with Holloway, Topuria said he would take his opponent’s head off and be the first man to knock out the American, who has never been finished in his career.
Topuria is the current UFC featherweight championGetty
UFC 308 takes place in Abu Dhabi and also sees Robert Whittaker challenge the returning Khamzat Chimaev in the co-main event.
Whittaker also had a similar message to his opponent ahead of their bout, telling talkSPORT exclusively that he aims to take Chimaev’s head off, while naming Jon Jones as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the UFC.
