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Max Holloway and Alexander Volkanovski have now faced each other twice for the featherweight championship. Their third meeting was preceded by an unusually antagonistic back and forth between the two at the pre-fight press conference. As expected after having fought twice, their familiarity extends beyond their respective abilities in the octagon.
Ahead of their trilogy fight, the two elite featherweights were asked what they respected most about each other. Holloway quipped with an amusing deflective answer:
"Ay we about to find out Saturday night. The only thing I respect about him is his cooking show. He looks like he's an alright cook."
Volkanovski's YouTube channel has an ongoing series called 'Cooking with Volk'. In the show, the featherweight champion dives into the kitchen where he passionately introduces fans to his culinary favorites with different guests.
Volkanovski's enthusiasm for food is littered across his Instagram account:
Holloway cheekily downplayed the champion by singling out a non-combative attribute of his to highlight. However, 'The Great' wasn't fazed as he coolly plugged in some personal marketing and called fans and the press to subscribe to his channel.
This prompted his Hawaiian counterpart to follow suit and promote his own gaming channel on Facebook. So ultimately, this one went Alexander Volkanovski's way. The champion didn't back down from the subtle smack talk, but rather came out of it with his opponent desperately trying to match up to him.
Alexander Volkanovski lauds Max Holloway's persistence
Volkanovski exhibited his gracious side earlier by answering the same question in a much cordial manner:
"Look I'm gonna be straight up. He's getting another chance because he was being stubborn and made sure no one else got that No.1 spot. So he gets a shot, he did exactly what I would do if I was in the same position. So, he's gonna have my respect for that. But that's it. It's just a third chance and he ain't gonna get it."
He lauded former champion Max Holloway for being relentless at the top of the featherweight rankings and holding on to the No.1 contender's spot. It's that same attitude that has landed 'Blessed' yet another shot at the title and he will be desperate to make it count.
Will a third time be the charm for Max Holloway to regain his title?
Check out the full press conference for UFC 276 on the Sportskeeda YouTube channel below:
