Max Holloway named a surprising fighter as the hardest-hitting opponent he’s faced.
The current BMF champion and former featherweight titleholder has been mixing it with the very best fighters since joining the UFC 12 years ago.
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Holloway is one of the biggest stars in MMACredit: Getty
‘Blessed’ squared off against Dustin Poirier in his debut and it didn’t get any easier from there as he faced Conor McGregor during his rise through the ranks soon after.
Charles Oliveira, Anthony Pettis, Jose Aldo, Brian Ortega, Alexander Volkanovski, Frankie Edgar, and Yair Rodriguez are just some of the other big hitters on his CV.
However, Holloway insists none of them crack quite like Andre Fili.
The 32-year-old, who has never officially been dropped during his UFC career, took an almighty whack en route to a submission win over ‘Touchy’ in April 2014.
Exactly nine years later, the Hawaiian fan favourite didn’t hesitate to name Fili as his hardest-hitting foe after trading blows with Arnold Allen for five rounds.
“Andre Fili,” Holloway quickly said when a reporter asked him who is the biggest puncher he’s fought at featherweight.
“Andre Fili, he’s the only guy that I ever got caught with and I looked at the time like, ‘What the f***? What am I doing?’ I remember going to the cage and being like, ‘Holy s***! He hit me pretty hard.’
“Andre Fili is the hardest cracker I’ve felt at 145lbs, for sure.”
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‘Blessed’ earned a legion of fans with his wild striking styleCredit: Getty
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He’s fought a long list of legends but it’s Fili who hit him hardestCredit: @touchyfili – instagram
Fili’s record pails in comparison to some of Holloway’s other opponents.
The 34-year-old has lost 11 times during his 36-fight career in MMA.
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Fili has KO’d 10 of his opponents but has relied on the judges to get the job done on 11 occasions, which suggests his power shots didn’t hurt others as they did Holloway.
Despite spending most of his career at featherweight, Holloway has fought 10lbs higher at lightweight and may have squared off with his new hardest-hitting opponent in April.
Justin Gaethje put his BMF title on the line against Holloway at UFC 300.
‘The Highlight’, who Khabib Nurmagomedov insists hit him harder than anyone else, had his moments and seemingly dropped Holloway at one point.
However, it didn’t count or matter as Holloway ended up knocking Gaethje out cold with one second to spare in what was arguably the greatest moment in UFC history.
“I was just glad I was the one landing,” Holloway said after UFC 300.
“He missed some shots. I was getting hurt by the wind of the shots he missed. That’s how hard he hits. This guy, he’s the next level.”
Another big puncher in Ilia Topruia appears to be next for Holloway.
For now, Fili has the coveted tag as the hardest hitter the granite-chinned UFC legend has fought at featherweight, but the new champion is looking to take that tag.
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