Conor McGregor relinquishing his 145-pound belt has led to Jose Aldo being promoted and also made room for the UFC 206 headliner between Max Holloway and Anthony Pettis to be an interim title fight.
A fan friendly fight even without the added motivation offered by the strap of gold, we can expect this fight to be a late arrival to the fight of the year party, should both fighters deliver on the promise that their stylistic match-up seems to hint at.
Former Lightweight king Anthony Pettis, made famous by his trademark Showtime kick against Benson Henderson, is one of the most lethal and dynamic kickers in the UFC today. Featherweight phenom Max Holloway, on the other hand, has been on a tear lately, winning 9 fights on the trot in his bid to work his way up the division.
As is the case with anything that is too good to be true, however, Pettis missing weight by 2 pounds has thrown a spanner in the works; the Interim Featherweight Title is only up for grabs should Max Holloway emerge victorious.
With this backdrop painting a somewhat gloomy picture, let us run through the keys to victory for both fighters in the UFC 206 main event.
Pettis’ kicks
Let us get the most obvious factor in this fight out of the way. Anthony Showtime Pettis is known as one of the finest kicking exponents in the UFC today, and not without good reason. His debilitating body and head kicks are lethal to any opponent, and the hardest thing for Holloway to do would be to tailor his aggressive approach around them.
Pettis delivers his kicks with hardly any tell or wind-up, meaning that Holloway only needs to be in range to be in the way of danger. In that manner of thinking, Holloway’s forward-walking style dovetails right into what Pettis would want.
Pettis also likes setting up his kicks with his hands, and Holloway has an approach to fighting that involves standing in front of his opponent and stringing together combinations. He gets in and out quickly, but when he’s focussed on head hunting, getting out of the way of a body kick that doesn’t announce itself isn’t easy at all.
Holloway has to mix it up in the stand-up
Max Holloway has beaded together 9 victories on the trot, some of them against some real top level opposition. And much of his success comes down to how well-rounded and versatile he is in striking.
His ground game, though certainly not underdeveloped, can’t quite hold a candle to his dexterity in stand-up. Striking fluidly from both stances and reeling off multi-strike combinations from all angles, Holloway has pressured his opponents into a shell with the sheer volume of his output.
While that would undoubtedly be his gameplan against Pettis, who picks and chooses his strikes carefully, Holloway has to remember to be in and out without committing too much to that characteristic blitz of his where he hones in on his opponent’s head.
Pettis is perfectly capable of counterstriking with debilitating kicks to the body, especially if Holloway rushes forward with a flurry, making it imperative for the Hawaiian to ensure that he keeps the former Lightweight Champion guessing and also manages his distance wisely.
Pettis should take it to the ground
The fight on the feet is intriguingly poised, but it does become lopsided if and when it gets taken to the ground. Max Holloway may squeeze in the odd takedown or submission attempt now and then, but Pettis is really quite masterful in submitting his opponents off his back.
As evinced by his submission victories over Benson Henderson, Gilbert Melendez and recently in the Featherweight division, Charles Oliviera, Pettis is quite a handful on the ground, and should look to maximise the advantage he has there by inviting Holloway into his guard.
While he is constantly working off his back and looking to submit his opponents, Pettis doesn’t quite have the wrestling pedigree to force the fight to the ground at a whim. He should, then, be looking to hurt Holloway sufficiently on the feet so that the Hawaiian looks for the takedown.
As evinced against Oliviera, Pettis thrives in the scrambles and he should milk the advantage for all it is worth. If it goes to the ground, there should only be one winner.
Mental Edge
Anthony Pettis missing weight has predominated the headlines going into the fight; a fight that was conferred with the added incntive of the interim Featherweight Title in the lead up to the event, only to take another turn at the final stretch.
While Showtime got the job done against Oliviera, he didn’t look stellar in his Featherweight debut, and was conspicuously missing some of the verve that he usually displays in the striking department.
And while many predicted that the weight cut would only be easier the second time round, it hasn’t and it’s cost Pettis his shot at Featherweight gold.
How will this affect him mentally? He claims that he’s not interested in interim belts, but apart from making suitable rhetoric, that sentiment surely isn’t mirrored by Holloway, who would be veritably more inceitivised in winning the fight.
That being said, Pettis has always maintained that he fights at his best when his back is against the wall and when he is the underdog. Whether he is the underdog in this fight is questionable, but certainly, there isn’t space for him to take a step back.
Will Holloway realise his dream of attaining Featherweight gold and a shot at unifying it against Jose Aldo, or will Anthony Pettis derail the Hawaiian’s train of momentum and stake a strong claim to remain at the weightclass?
UFC 206 beckons.
