Max Holloway and Anthony Pettis will headline Saturday's UFC 206, battling it out for the interim featherweight title and a likely shot at Jose Aldo, the current champion following Conor McGregor's move up to lightweight.
The fighters have taken different roads to Saturday's fight: Pettis made his featherweight debut in August, while Holloway has steadily rebuilt his standing in the division following back-to-back losses to Dennis Bermudez and McGregor in 2013.
Here's a look at some of the career statistics and top highlights for both fighters heading into Saturday's bout.
Max Holloway
Holloway enters his first title bout on the back of an impressive nine-fight win streak, taking his last two victories by decision. Overall, the 25-year-old sports a 16-3 record, with six wins coming by knockout and two by submission.
At 5'11", Holloway moves in and out of his punches and makes full use of his reach. He has a healthy work rate in the stand-up game and lands shots at a fair clip without taking much damage.
His unanimous-decision win over Ricardo Lamas in June was a prime example:
Holloway hasn't dropped a fight since his decision loss against McGregor in 2013—Notorious' only featherweight fight in the UFC that went the distance. Even though McGregor dominated the fight, fans came away impressed with Holloway, who showed an iron chin that belied his relative lack of experience.
McGregor has gone on to win titles in multiple divisions while forcing the featherweights to wait, and Holloway had to regain his stature and work his way back to the top.
Unlike many of his fellow featherweights, Holloway doesn't blame McGregor for the way he has handled the division, per Dave Doyle of Yahoo Sports:
Everybody hates on this guy. For what? If you had this opportunity, you know damn straight that you’d take it. If I had the opportunity, yes, it’s history. I want to break history. Conor McGregor set this bar and I’m trying to break it. If you’re not trying to break it, then why are you in the game?
It takes a special human being to do that. Conor’s special, you can’t hate on the guy. If everyone could do it, then everyone would be doing it. It took him, you don’t understand, you have to find your niche. I’m finding mine. I’m me.
But with the featherweight division now wide-open, Holloway has picked a good time to peak. His December 2015 win over Jeremy Stephens was impressive, even if his opponent had lost two of his last three, but his performance against Lamas solidified Holloway's status as a contender.
Lamas fought Aldo for the belt as late as 2014?he's no slouch.
Anthony Pettis
Pettis is a former titleholder, winning the lightweight strap in 2013 before losing it to Rafael dos Anjos almost two years later. Three straight losses in the lightweight division saw the 29-year-old drop to featherweight, where he needed just one win to book his date with Holloway.
Showtime is mostly known for his incredible striking ability, but he has won more fights via submission (nine) than knockout (seven).
Per Severe MMA's Sean Sheehan, he's been making full use of his ground game of late:
Useless Fact Of The Day: Anthony Pettis' last three wins were all via submission #UFOTD
— Seán Sheehan (@SeanSheehanBA) December 7, 2016
Overall, Pettis is 19-5 as a professional fighter, with only two of those losses coming before 2015. Years ago, Pettis was a dominant force in the UFC, a creative mastermind who could fashion openings seemingly out of nowhere.
His February 2012 win over Joe Lauzon was one of the highlights of his career, as he made quick work of his opponent with one of the best head kicks fans will ever see:
He followed that up with another great win over Donald Cerrone and then beat Benson Henderson for the title in August 2013. Pettis had one successful defense against Gilbert Melendez before dropping the belt to Dos Anjos. Eddie Alvarez and Edson Barboza also defeated him in back-to-back fights this year, exposing a weakness against takedowns.
Fortunately for Pettis, Holloway isn't known for his ground game, and the former lightweight champion will have a three-inch edge in reach. His main task will be keeping up with Holloway's impressive attacking output?over the course of five rounds, Holloway could land a multitude of shots if his conditioning is on point.
Showtime did not look great in his win over Charles Oliveira in August, and with Holloway winning his last nine, Pettis will have to be at his best Saturday. He has more experience on the big stage, however, even if only the interim title is on the line.
