UFC 251: Max Holloway has done ‘no sparring’ and trains ‘through Zoom’ for Alexander Volkanovski rematch
- Former featherweight champion ‘Blessed’ puts safety above all else before flying from native Hawaii to ‘Fight Island’ in Abu Dhabi
- Holloway says he saw his coaches for the first time at airport and likens waiting for Covid-19 tests to fighting
Max Holloway revealed he has done “no sparring at all” and has only received coaching over Zoom ahead of his rematch against featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski this weekend.
“It was challenging indeed,” the 28-year-old Hawaiian native told ESPN MMA. “At the end of the day I didn’t wanna put my coaches in harm’s way or getting arrested or whatever. The stay-at-home order in Hawaii was pretty serious. I know people were getting to gyms and stuff but a lot of the way I was training was exactly like this, over Zoom, doing Zoom classes. I didn’t really get to do too much.
“The first time seeing my coaches was meeting them at the airport for Vegas and coming here, so it’s just how you adapt. I’m ready, we’re good. One thing that I took away from this pandemic is sometimes in camp we overpush our bodies and go over the line without even knowing,” said “Blessed” Holloway.
Despite the little-to-no physical contact, Holloway insisted this fight camp was still “one of the best” he has had and he had no “new injuries” to add to his existing “niggling” ones.