Why Max Holloway’s New Record Deserves Its Flowers

When talking about the greatest fighters to ever grace the world of mixed martial arts (MMA), the name Max Holloway simply cannot be left out of the conversation and he again proved why in his most recent outing.

Against No. 4-ranked featherweight Arnold Allen, the No. 2-ranked Holloway became the first-ever fighter in UFC history to land a total of 3,000 significant strikes in his career.

Holloway’s achievement is certainly worth discussion, but the question now is what does it really mean to have such a record.

The term “significant strikes” has had a long history of being questioned by MMA fans as to what its definition is, and Fight Metric did its best to break it down in 2011.

“Significant strikes refer to all strikes at distance and power strikes in the clinch and on the ground. It does not include small, short strikes in the clinch and on the ground. Those will be included in the Total Strikes category,” they wrote then.

At the time of Fight Metric’s post, Georges St-Pierre was the all-time leader in significant strikes with 892 to his name while being followed by names such as BJ Penn, Randy Couture and Rich Franklin.

Simply put, it means that technically all standing strikes, plus damaging shots on the ground and in the clinch, are counted as significant strikes.

While their definition was not as in-depth as many would have hoped, it does provide a slightly clearer picture.

Holloway has made his name off of being one of the most decorated strikers in the UFC, and his bout with Calvin Kattar in January 2021 encapsulates that perfectly.

“Blessed” ended the matchup with the most significant strikes landed (445), with 274 to the head and 117 to the body, attempted (744), most distance strikes landed (439), most strikes attempted in general (746), and the most significant strikes landed in a round with 141.

Holloway again proved his striking pedigree against Allen by landing 149 total strikes, 147 of them significant, compared to just 80 total landed by the latter–ending the night with a total of 3,122 plus the victory.

Becoming the first-ever fighter to land 3,000 of them is amazing enough, but it makes it that much more impressive when looking at the rest of the field.

Coming in second on the list of most significant strikes is Frankie Edgar with 1,801, Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Angela Hill tied for third with 1,754, while the recently retired Donald Cerrone at fifth with 1,748.

While the record speaks for itself, it also would not have been possible had Holloway not been a durable fighter throughout his career as it also speaks to his longevity, something that Fight Metric pointed out in a general sense.

“This is one of the most fundamental statistics in the game. The fighter at the top of this list is as elemental to MMA as the all-time hits leader is to baseball. The fighters here need to have a lengthy tenure in the UFC and tend to take their time putting away their opponents.”

He has had 34 bouts to his name under the UFC’s banner, and his performance against Allen puts him in prime contention for a shot at the interim featherweight title against Yair Rodriguez, whom he defeated in November 2021.