Firas Zahabi once called Nate Diaz the “scariest street fighter in mma”. Meaning that there was nothing you could do to Nate. You could beat him down & batter him but he would never stop fighting. I’d like to play with that for a moment. Imagine you could have that level of durability & cardiovascular ability, But in a fighter who had more natural skill & fight iq. That would be a Frankenstein’s monster of a fighter. I never remembered Frankenstein visiting Hawaii but he must have along the way. Max “Blessed” Holloway has 16 wins in the UFC. He is a multiple time Featherweight champion. Most importantly, He beat Jose Aldo twice. Incredible accolades that only the “upperest” of echelon fighters can achieve. We are going to take some time today to discuss why Max has been so successful & why his career made Firas eat crow.
He doesn’t call himself the best boxer in the ufc for nothing. Max has the single fight strike record, Mainly from his boxing. It, like all good boxing starts with the Jab…
A good jab is both a tool and a weapon. Usually that means its a hammer & a tape measurer. In Max’s case its the aforementioned as well as a pressure gauge. More on this later…
A secondary layer of the Jab is its utilization to the body which adds a layer of offense to the weapon. That layer is what I will affectionately call from this point forward the “cardio zapper”. Slight pokes to the sternum, interrupting breathing and thus… Making you tire faster.
Also less we mention Max using the lead hook as a range finder as well. Its a good trick really. To the naked eye, he’s just slinging a naked 3 with the hopes that it finds range and lands hard around the guard. But that is incorrect. The main purpose of the punch is to pull right hand guard higher and back. Which as you can imagine it to open up the guard for Jabs, rear straights, & Any body attacks.
So we got the forward hand down. If Max’s lead hand is a tool then his rear hand is a sledgehammer. Not to say that he hits hard, But it does say that the lead hand opens the guard for main attack. A scout for the phalanx so to speak. Whether it is a 1-2 or a slappy 3-4, The point is the same. Don’t forget how this forces opponents to keep their high guard which opens the body for more Cardio Zappers.
So we have covered the base layer of Max’s boxing game. Now lets dive one level deeper. Head attacks eventually open the body up, However this can be done almost instantaneously. One of my biggest gripes with mma is a lack of fundamental body shots. This is no problem for Max as he knows the value of attacking the body & Just like we discussed, Taxing his opponents stamina. Max likes to get a rhythm going with his jab. Eventually he will throw the 2 to the body behind it. Now if the body jab is a cardio zapper then the body 2 is a cardio drainer. Big shots to the sternum that interrupt breathing patterns dramatically (Ask me how I know that lol) and thus lower opponents cardio.
Another aspect of Max’s body punching is his utilization of a skip. He will often use this as a way to amplify punching power and get into range against opponents with good linear movement. He often throws an oblique kick which will also act as a nice feint for that skip.
This is a bit of a palette primer for what’s to come in regards to volume, pace etc…
So that is a pretty basic understanding of Max’s core boxing game. Obviously there are more tools and weapons he uses but for the sake of time ( & my sanity) that what we will discuss. One of my personal favorite parts of Max’s game is his ability to play with different paces and do so effectively in fight scenarios…
So the context in this exchange is important. Max has been landing and is continuing to land on Ortega. He has him read. So he finds an opening. Brian swings a wild spinning back fist. A tell tale sign he’s feeling weathered. So instead of throwing his normal 2-3 punch combinations, He throws and stays in the pocket a moment longer to land an extra two punches. One being to the BODY.
I hope at this point you’re starting to understand Max’s main gameplan. Pressure, pace, volume, & Zapping cardio.
An even better example here. Max is like an insect, He sees a crack in the screen door and he’s inside laying eggs.(Sorry for the imagery) Noticing Dustin’s granite chin has been tested. He immediately fires on the guard and stays in the pocket willing to receive to give. This to the outside looking in can be perceived as poor defense but I disagree. In my opinion Max uses his cardio as a weapon and he in the Mexican boxing style believes his offense is almost a defense.
Now just to emphasize my previous point here is some examples of Max using that sudden pace change to finish fights. I love this clip btw, Almost like Max wilted Pettis’s soul. Like it slowly melted from his psyche one punch at a time. Tough not to romanticize fighting ya know? I digress.
In this clip Max uses that volume & pace to finish a goat & retain his title. Notice how he is constantly throwing to both the body and the head. Into the guard and around. Every. Single. Angle. Absolute killer instinct on full display.
“Fighting is a dance”. Have you ever heard that before? As chaotic as fighting is, Its true. Fighting has a rhythm. Usually its a very linear with the occasional crescendo. Meaning it is usually “You go, I go”. We each take turns throwing our shot until the fight is over.
In this clip you can clearly see a pattern of “You go, I go”. We each take turns. I bring this clip because imperative you understand the framing to appreciate the beauty of these next few clips.
Now, What if you could use that rhythm to your advantage? Like a sick conductor of a horror themed masterpiece, That is Max Holloway. Just to recap for a second, We learned that Max’s game plan is to zap your cardio through body shots, & Volume changes to mess with breathe rhythm & thus lower cardio. However there is one more thing Max does…
So we established that fighting has a rhythm and it often boils down to taking turns. But there is the in-between “reset” period in between these exchanges. It’s the moments that you need when you’re in a fight to take a break, breathe, get your bearings, try not to freak out lol. But Max knows this. Notice the clip, Brian has circled and is now facing Max head on but a moment before someone should “Do Something” Max throws the body jab which of course lands un guarded. Now we know that Max has landed a cardio zapper and that interrupted breathing but it also interrupted Ortega’s thought process. He was just in an exchange but he wasn’t supposed to be yet. So he’s in an exchange he didn’t know he was in and to top it off he lost that exchange?!?! See how this could frustrate someone to the point of feeling out of control? See how that could cause someone to try to concentrate and use even more energy? Pretty cool picture I’m painting huh?
It’s a little easier to see in this clip I think. The exchange clearly is over & Brian is circling preparing for the next exchange then out of no where a straight. You can also tell this is deliberate from Max as he immediately leaves range. That wasn’t a range finder, It was a rhythm interrupter. Like a broken guitar string during the Free Bird solo.
Last example of this here. I do notice that this trick is something he will mainly do in the early rounds during that “Feeling out” period. I also notice it is mainly body shots… I’ll let you figure out why ;).
So just to clarify once more Max’s core game is as follows. Jabs establish range and raise guard. Body jabs & skipping body 2’s zap the cardio. Opponent is aware and braces for body shots which open up 1-2’s to the head. Once Max detects the slightest chance of a finish, The governor is turned off and the pace is pushed to 10, Often times actually finishing opponent. All the while Max throw’s off tempo Jabs, & body jabs to further lower opponents cardio & create a general feeling of uneasiness that allows the rest of his game to flourish. Crazy right?
Authors Note:
I titled this article deliberately. Max’s pace & pressure must seem as hard to stop as a boulder rolling down hill. Even if you can stop it, You cant hold it for long. Its like the Hoover dam with a major crack in the middle. The floodgates are going to open & you wont know until its too late. As you all can imagine & I am a very big Max fan. I think the cool stuff he does in regards to rhythm alone outweigh any deficiencies. To anyone interested I recommend you watch his fights with Ortega, Kattar, Edgar, & both Aldo fights to truly understand his game. Above all else however I hope you have-
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