Max Holloway made his return to the Octagon at UFC 231 and completely dominated the previously undefeated Brian Ortega.
Max Holloway vs. Brian Ortega was looked at as a clash of two of the hottest fighters in the UFC at the moment. Holloway has won 12 fights in a row, including finishing Jose Aldo twice in order to win the UFC featherweight championship. Brian Ortega, on the other hand, is undefeated and to this date is the only man to ever knock out Frankie Edgar, the fight that got him the title fight against Holloway. This fight has also been booked before at UFC 226, however, Max Holloway had to pull out. The fight was then rescheduled for tonight, as this fight is too good to be passed up.
Round one was a very strong start for Max Holloway. The champion landed some really nice straight right hands and clipped Ortega at many points in the round. Ortega even got Holloway down at one point, but Holloway almost immediately got up. The first round was a great one for the defending champion, pushing the pressure and looking great doing so.
Round two was almost entirely dominated by Max Holloway as he had his timing down perfectly. Landing some clean combinations, he turned Ortega’s nose into a faucet in the round. Max looked incredible in the second round, and likely the best we’ve ever seen him.
Round three was where Ortega turned things around, however. It appeared that he rocked Holloway very early into the round and got the takedown. He then got the champion’s back and looked for the choke but Holloway got out. From there, it was some amazing back and forth between Ortega and Holloway. Both landed combinations and while Ortega landed the harder shots, Holloway landed more.
Max Holloway, prior to the fourth round, started pointing to the ground to signal that this is the round that he finishes the fight. The champion then went out and put on a clinic against Ortega, landing some absolutely brutal combinations and almost finishing it multiple times. Holloway even had some fun looking for some submissions at times. Holloway dominated the round so brutally, it was hard to watch at times, and in between rounds it was stopped by the doctor.
Max Holloway was the underdog going into this fight and many were picking against him, and he went in there and dominated, even calling his shot in the fourth round. What a performance.
Max Holloway def. Brian Ortega by TKO (Doctor’s Stoppage) in Round 4 (5:00)
