This Saturday night in Atlanta, Max Holloway has the opportunity to add another gold belt to his legacy.

According to the current UFC featherweight champion, however, that’s not really what he wants his legacy to be defined by. Speaking with the UFC’s twitter account recently, Holloway said he considered fighting other tough fighters more important than claiming titles inside the mixed martial arts promotion, and hence why he can be seen moving up to 155-pounds to meet Dustin Poirier at UFC 236.

“The belt is the belt, you know?” Holloway said. “I’m not here to fight for belts. I’m here to fight the toughest guy. My son, Rush, doesn’t know how many belts I have. I put them in the closet. They can come out after I’m done fighting, but right now, we’re trying to focus on being the best fighter, and I told UFC – it’s as simple as this – I told UFC, ‘Send me the hardest fights,’ and this is what they did.”

If Holloway wins, the immediate question will of course arise as to what happens with his 145-pound title. While the Hawaiian has beaten most of the top names in his division — most recently Brian Ortega — the idea of him being able to hold both championship belts and compete in two weightclasses at the same time seems unlikely.

For Holloway, it’s all a conversation to be led by the UFC.

“[Should] everything go well after April 13 I can go sit down and talk to the UFC,” Holloway said. “Because in my eyes, Frankie and Jose don’t deserve that. They don’t deserve for an inactive champ. We got some new contenders, and they don’t deserve that. So if I gotta vacate, I gotta vacate. But if I can defend both, then you know I’ll defend both. I want to be the best ever and by being the best ever, I’m not going to talk my way into there, I’m going to fight and I’m going to prove to people.”

“The belt is the belt. I’m not here to fight for belts. I’m here to fight the toughest guy.”@BlessedMMA talks about his goals moving forward and what his plans are as far as defending his featherweight belt. #UFC236 pic.twitter.com/MDmAXlZQjt

— UFC News (@UFCNews) April 4, 2019

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