Appreciating the kicking game of Max Holloway

HuskySamoan

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I've wondered about this for years, Max always labeled a boxer and while he has good straight punching and body work in close with his hands, along with being a talented switch hitter with endless cardio and a granite chin who applies pressure with high volume, his kicks to me always stood out much more than they were mentioned. Especially the stance switching he does, it really gives him more openings for the body kicks. Max always kicked to the body extremely well, has a super underrated turning side kick and goes high deceptively well. If you're like me, a lot of Max's career has become hazy in the last 3 or 4 years between the Volk trilogy, Lamas, Ortega, Kattar but he's one of all time greats at 145lbs so lets go down memory lane, Holloway has been one of my favorite fighters to watch for over a decade now.

First fight where I noticed the kicking game on full display was vs Dennis Bermudez, a fight at the time I actually had Holloway winning, his takedown defense looked great vs at the time a very talented top 10 FW wrestler and the confidence he had throwing kicks blew me away (always liked this fight, haven't rewatched it in maybe 5+ years but I should). Max was going high and landed a nice switch kick to the head on Bermudez, a strong turning sidekick to the body and even spun off a slip and rocked Bermudez with a turning side kick to the head. (can't find a picture or gif of the turning sidekick to the body but it landed clean and sent Bermudez back several feet, Joe Rogan commented on it fondly)

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Max vs Chope where he landed that vicious jumping turning side kick against the cage mid combination has always stood out to me

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Max Holloway destroying Cub Swanson with body kicks

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Max Holloway finishing Anthony Pettis with kicks to the body

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Max Holloway dropping Alexander Volkanovski with a head kick, please don't mind the stupid captions I didn't make these gifs and this is the only one I could find of the high kick. Max actually set this up really well with hand feints and faked kicks to gauge reactions.

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Bonus content

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Has Max been kicking less in recent years?
 
I've wondered about this for years, Max always labeled a boxer and while he has good straight punching and body work in close with his hands, along with being a talented switch hitter with endless cardio and a granite chin who applies pressure with high volume, his kicks to me always stood out much more than they were mentioned. Especially the stance switching he does, it really gives him more openings for the body kicks. Max always kicked to the body extremely well, has a super underrated turning side kick and goes high deceptively well. If you're like me, a lot of Max's career has become hazy in the last 3 or 4 years between the Volk trilogy, Lamas, Ortega, Kattar but he's one of all time greats at 145lbs so lets go down memory lane, Holloway has been one of my favorite fighters to watch for over a decade now.

First fight where I noticed the kicking game on full display was vs Dennis Bermudez, a fight at the time I actually had Holloway winning, his takedown defense looked great vs at the time a very talented top 10 FW wrestler and the confidence he had throwing kicks blew me away (always liked this fight, haven't rewatched it in maybe 5+ years but I should). Max was going high and landed a nice switch kick to the head on Bermudez, a strong turning sidekick to the body and even spun off a slip and rocked Bermudez with a turning side kick to the head. (can't find a picture or gif of the turning sidekick to the body but it landed clean and sent Bermudez back several feet, Joe Rogan commented on it fondly)

pow_20.jpg

tumblr_mnf8dcpAbq1rrz05go1_500.gif


Max vs Chope where he landed that vicious jumping turning side kick against the cage mid combination has always stood out to me

26.gif


Max Holloway destroying Cub Swanson with body kicks

f72c7f718e43b8aa186a71329b26736a.gif

max-holloway-mma.gif


Max Holloway finishing Anthony Pettis with kicks to the body

faf82d0017cb290d5e51e7c187bf17e0.gif


Max Holloway dropping Alexander Volkanovski with a head kick, please don't mind the stupid captions I didn't make these gifs and this is the only one I could find of the high kick. Max actually set this up really well with hand feints and faked kicks to gauge reactions.

volkawanker-max.gif


Bonus content

NauticalShockedDunnart-max-1mb.gif


otUvOc.gif


Has Max been kicking less in recent years?
He has pretty good kicks but like his boxing his kicks get neutralized when he fights other kickers. Like when he fought Volk and Yair. He shines when he has the clear striking advantage over his opponents in either boxing or kicks. Aldo was doing really well as well before he gassed out. Max gets thrown off his game in a real technical back and forth striking fight, he needs to lead and fight at his pace and rhythm. Break that and you get him a lot more stationary and reacting/watching instead.
 
He has pretty good kicks but like his boxing his kicks get neutralized when he fights other kickers. Like when he fought Volk and Yair. He shines when he has the clear striking advantage over his opponents in either boxing or kicks. Aldo was doing really well as well before he gassed out. Max gets thrown off his game in a real technical back and forth striking fight, he needs to lead and fight at his pace and rhythm. Break that and you get him a lot more stationary and reacting/watching instead.

Good thing Max has insane durability and cardio so he can bore through guys like Aldo and Yair even if they are quicker and sharper than him early. It honestly adds layers to his game even if it's a little masochistic.
 
Too bad he fell in love with his hands and forgets to mix up these days.
 
Definately should've kicked a lot more vs Volk
 
Max also had some sneaky good step in and separation/on the break elbows. His spinning kicks have decent timing. He is slower than a lot of guys but he cuts angles well when he's pressing. Max is probably on the down side of his career considering damage and his fighting style, but it doesn't mean we shouldn't be appreciative of his skill and the fights he's put on. Good thread as always @HuskySamoan
 
another guy with poor fight IQ. they fall in love with their hands and they abandon everything else. and that never works forever.
 
Once upon a time this was the kind of posts that made me come to sherdog!
 
Max's body kicks (and body work in general) were indeed absolutely nasty. He definitely has been using his kicks less recently.

I'm really going to miss Max when he's gone. I've never enjoyed watching a single fighter more than him. Hopefully we get a couple more vintage performances from him before he calls it quits.
 
another guy with poor fight IQ. they fall in love with their hands and they abandon everything else. and that never works forever.
Nothing works forever. I know even my dick will let me down eventually. Once. At 80.

About Max, well, maybe he has undisclosed problems that prevent him from kicking as often, as hard or whatever. Back, neck, hip, knee problems?
Dude's been in many wars and isn't that young anymore, unfortunately.
 
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