It took 34 fights but Max Holloway has suffered his first-ever knockout defeat.

The Hawaiian came up short in his bid to regain control of the UFC’s featherweight title, losing via strikes in the third round of the UFC 308 main event to the champion and still-undefeated Ilia Topuria in Abu Dhabi in what was the organisation’s 20th event in the United Arab Emirates.

But for most of the fight, it was competitive. Holloway looked the sharper of the two in the opening exchanges, causing the champion problems with his razor-sharp jab and avoiding much of Topuria’s much-vaunted power shots — save for a moment towards the end of the first which may or may not have been a slip.

But as the fight went on, Holloway became a little more of a stationary target and that was all that Topuria needed to find a home for a stunning shot in the third which sent his opponent to the canvas — definitely this time — in what was the first time that Holloway had been dropped in his fight career.

But speaking afterwards after what was his fourth successive loss in a 145-pound title bout, Holloway says that his time at the summit of the sport has not yet come to an end.

“I felt great. I was finding my groove,” Holloway said to reporters, including The Mac Life, following the bout.

“You saw on the scoreboards after, I was kind of surprised. I thought I had at least one of them. In the first round, I know he took me down. Then at the ending he had that takedown. It is what it is. It felt good showing off my hands. I was landing. I was moving fast. I think I had him surprised in there.

“Like I said, I was doing well until I wasn’t. … Game of inches, man. Game of inches. He landed something that I found myself looking at him, up from the ground. It is what it is.”

As for his next move, Holloway says that he won’t be rushing back to the cage but that he will be available for his next bout by next summer.

“We’re all going to sit down with the team, relax,” he said when asked what might be next for him — and said that, whoever is next, might well be at lightweight.

“There’s nothing needed to be rushing back to right now. But I can try coming back in the summer, the big July card, right, in Vegas? Do something. We’ll see what happens. I mean, 155 looks really good right now. … Like I said, I had the best 145 cut here. But what else is there to do? I had a couple times to reclaim it. New guys coming up. Yeah, that’d be fun. But I think 155 looks more fun, fighting more, the caliber, everyone there, and the names there, it looks really exciting to put my name in the mix.”

But in case some had it twisted, Holloway made one thing clear: “You guys are going to see me back. It’s not a funeral. I promise.”