Max Holloway to returning B.J. Penn: 'There's another Hawaii kid' going for belt

Max Holloway said he wishes fellow Hawaiian B.J. Penn the best in his UFC return. However, he won’t be so kind if “The Prodigy” attempts to get in the way of his own quest for UFC featherweight gold.

Holloway (15-3 MMA, 11-3 UFC) is currently riding an eight-fight UFC winning streak and is No. 4 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA featherweight rankings. Penn (16-10-2 MMA, 12-8-2 UFC) is a former two-division UFC champion who, after nearly two years of retirement, recently announced his planned return to competition.

Although Penn has spent the majority of his career fighting at welterweight and lightweight, he said his next fight will be at featherweight. To take it one step further, Penn said he wants to add a third belt to his collection and his set his sights on 145-pound gold.

That revelation didn’t sit particularly well with Holloway, he said. Penn would have to win a number of fights before being taken seriously as a contender, but even then, Holloway said he was taken off guard by the claims of his fellow Hawaiian.

“No one wanted to see him go out the way he did, so I’m glad he’s back trying to get some redemption, but him saying he’s coming to 145, I’m kind of scratching my head,” Holloway told MMAjunkie. “He’s coming to 145, and he’s going to try to go for the belt? He knows there’s another Hawaii kid right there for the belt. I don’t know if he’s saying he might come for the belt and thinking he might want to try to fight me? I have no idea. He knows I’m in the weight class, and he knows people are talking about my title shot.”

Penn hasn’t fought since a third-round TKO loss to Frankie Edgar at The Ultimate Fighter 19 Finale in July 2014. It marked his third straight loss and his sixth unsuccessful trip to the octagon in seven appearances. Nevertheless, Penn said that even at 37, he’s confident he can still be competitive against the world’s best fighters.

Holloway said he doesn’t doubt Penn’s ability to revive his career, but he does feel featherweight isn’t the division best suited for him.

“I’m glad he wants to fight because I didn’t want to watch him go out the way he did in the last one,” Holloway said. “But I always thought he was best at 155. If he trains hard and he’s focused, he’s an animal at 155. That run he had with the belt was something special.”

Aside from winning a belt, one of Holloway’s greatest UFC dreams is to see the company host an event in Hawaii. UFC President Dana White said this past year that such a fight card is closer than ever to being a reality, but an official announcement has yet to be made.

One of the true upsides to Penn’s return, Holloway said, is that his star power and history in the sport strengthen the chances of the UFC bringing a fight card to his home state.

“It definitely helps,” Holloway said. “I think UFC-Hawaii needs to happen. We’ve got eight Hawaiians (in the UFC), now nine with B.J. Penn coming back. I definitely think that’s a help, but we’ll see what happens. I’m just waiting for it to happen. You can’t believe anything until you have a contract. Anyone can talk about it, but I’m not going to get too excited or look forward to it until it happens, and I hope it happens sometime this year.”

Holloway’s confusion over Penn’s quest for a UFC title paired with a potential event in Hawaii creates a lingering question: Would Holloway fight the UFC Hall of Famer? It wouldn’t be ideal, he said, but he also couldn’t rule it out as a possibility.

“I’d have to go back to my team and see what my team wants; we would have to see if it makes sense,” Holloway said. “Hawaii vs. Hawaii? No one, especially in Hawaii, no one wants to see that. You want to fight outside of the world. You never know what happens with the UFC. Weird stuff happens.”

For more on the UFC’s upcoming schedule, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.