Dan Ige: Max Holloway Deserved to Beat Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 251

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Dan Ige had a complicated rooting interest while viewing the featherweight title bout at UFC 251 this past Saturday.

On one hand, he wanted to see Max Holloway regain the belt he lost in December. On the other hand, he knew he’d much prefer to face Alexander Volkanovski for 145-pound gold in the future than he would his fellow Hawaiian. Ultimately, it was Volkanovski who emerged with a contentious split-decision triumph in Abu Dhabi to improve to 2-0 against “Blessed.”

Like many observers, Ige scored the fight in favor of Holloway.

“I thought it was a great fight. I thought Max had won. That’s how it goes sometimes,” Ige said during a virtual media day on Monday. “He’ll always be a champion. I don’t think it’s the end of Max. I think he’ll have a title again in his future. But it is what it is, as he would say.

“I had Rounds 1, 2 and 3 for Max. You could even argue [Round] 4 in my opinion. But I’m biased, obviously. I was rooting for the Hawaiian.”

Ige will square off against Calvin Kattar in the UFC on ESPN 13 headliner on Wednesday. The 28-year-old Honolulu native has won six straight Octagon appearances entering the bout, and he has Volkanovski clearly in his sights. Ige won’t rule out jumping to the top of the list of featherweight contenders with the right performance.

“Definitely more motivation to go after the Aussie than a fellow Hawaiian. I’m excited, I’m hungry. I have a tough opponent in front of me,” Ige said. “You never know what’s gonna happen in this division. I could go out there and get a big win over Kattar and get a title shot. The guys in the top 5 aren’t active. I’m active, I’m out there, I”m winning. This is my third fight this year. If I keep going out there and I keep winning, pretty soon you can’t deny me.”

Ige has already earned split-decision triumphs over Mirsad Bektic and Edson Barboza in 2020, and he believes his level of activity should put him on par — or above — some of the other top contenders at featherweight.

“Sometimes I don’t understand it. You got Brian Ortega, I feel like he retired after Max beat him up. I have a lot of respect for that guy too, but he hasn’t fought for two years. He’s still ranked llike No. 2 in the world or something. You’ve got Yair [Rodriguez] and Zabit [Magomedsharipov]….same thing, they’re not active and they’re not fighting. Even though they’re scheduled to fight in August, who knows when they’ll even fight again.

“I’m just focusing on me. I’m doing what I have to do to get a title shot. That’s all I’m really focused and worried about.”