On Saturday evening at UFC 218, history repeated itself as Max Holloway stopped the long-time former champion Jose Aldo with a third-round TKO to defend his UFC featherweight title. Aldo is widely considered to be one of the greatest fighters of all time, and the greatest featherweight to ever compete in MMA, and a second dominant win over him firmly makes Holloway the man to beat in the 145-pound division. But it might have also done more than that for him.

According to UFC commentator Joe Rogan, who spoke recently on his JRE MMA Show podcast, Holloway’s win over Aldo didn’t just cement himself as the best featherweight on the planet, it also cemented him as the best featherweight in history.

“Max Holloway’s performance was nothing short of masterful,” Rogan said. “Nothing short of masterful, the way he handled Aldo. He yelled at me after he got done with the first round, he looks at me and he goes, ‘The man is tired! The man is tired!’ He’s a motherf**ker. Max Holloway is a real f**king warrior, to the core. That guy relishes it, he loves it.

“When he was chicken-necking it at Aldo and he’s got his hands down and is talking s**t and stalking him, you could see it in Aldo’s face, like he was drowning. You could see the waves were coming and he knew he wasn’t gonna be able to dog-paddle for too long. Like, ‘Jesus Christ, how am I gonna be able to keep up with this guy?’

“He’s the baddest motherf**ker. I think he’s the best 145er ever. He might not agree with it yet because of the record, which I see his point, but the way he fights, the octagon I.Q. that he shows, his fight I.Q., his ability to find a weakness and see it, his predatory behavior inside the octagon, I think he’s the best. I really do. It’s so impressive to me.”

Despite being only 26 years old, Holloway’s resume is remarkable. He sports a 19-3 record and currently finds himself on a 12-fight win streak, his last loss coming to Conor McGregor when he was only 22 years old.

Aldo, on the other hand, has had a rough go as of late, losing three of his last four bouts. Before that though, Aldo had compiled a 25-1 record including an 18-fight win streak that spanned almost a decade and saw him capture capture the WEC gold, defend his title nine times, and rise to the top pound-for-pound fighter in the sport. And while Rogan was complimentary of Aldo and all of his accomplishments, he remained adamant that Holloway has surpassed the all-time great.

“Aldo, in his prime, was spectacular and amazingly impressive. His flying knee first-round knockout of Cub Swanson, the knockout of Chad Mendes, the Urijah Faber fight where he brutalized Urijah’s leg, he’s unquestionably one of the greats of all time, but in my opinion, skill wise, Max Holloway has now surpassed him. I think he’s the best.”

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VIDEO STEW

Max is awesome. Handles Conor perfectly and acts like a real person. What a champion.

Free fights.

Swanson-Ortega preview.

Khabib’s training camp.

LISTEN UP

Heavy Hands. Recapping UFC 218 and the TUF 26 Finale cards.

Real Quick. Mike Swick talks to his AKA stablemate, Khabib Nurmagomedov.

SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE

Sour grapes.

It’s been a long 18 months of fighting, training and fighting again and again. I guess I should have taken those 18 months off ,instead to get a title fight. — #OnAmission4Gold (@KelvinGastelum) December 6, 2017

I’m taking a break ✌️

Rebuild and restructure and get better! #OnAmission4Gold — #OnAmission4Gold (@KelvinGastelum) December 6, 2017

Eddie giving big praise to Gaethje.

Eddie Alvarez watching his Gaethje KO:



"He'll recover within like a quarter second and then you'll be in a whole 'nother fight again. That's the kind of animal Justin Gaethje is." pic.twitter.com/3xPMBImfJ0 — caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) December 7, 2017

Damn. Get Brandon Girtz a Nike Jumpman sponsorship right away.

Impressive self belief on display.

I lost the fight but not the war. She had nothing on her feet for me, no submission skills, couldn't knock me out, she over powered me(that's an easy fix) and the ref was sexist #equalrightsinfights #letmegooutmyshield #womensrights — Angela Magana (@AngelaMagana1) December 6, 2017

Truth.

Wanted to show some love for @josealdojunior a man that will forever be one of the all time greats pic.twitter.com/yxVdqqvHnM — BossLogic (@Bosslogic) December 7, 2017

Tommy’s too good for YouTube anymore, he’s moved on up to the Fox Sports world.

.@TommyToeHold interviews Conor McGregor and Max Holloway (and the kids?) about a potential rematch! https://t.co/eSaN1aTFAD — FOX Sports: UFC (@UFCONFOX) December 7, 2017

Quite the team.

#weare and always will Be AKA! #trainingcamp #3kings #whereisluke #4kings?@khabib_nurmagomedov @officialcainvelasquez @lukerockhold @americankickboxingacademy A post shared by Daniel "DC" Cormier (@dc_mma) on Dec 6, 2017 at 7:45pm PST

Good cause.

FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Stipe Miocic (17-2) vs. Francis Ngannou (11-1); UFC 220, Jan. 20.

TODAY IN MMA HISTORY

1996: Don Frye submitted Tank Abbott to win the second UFC Ultimate Ultimate tournament. This tournament also featured one of the first fixed fights in UFC history as Mark Hall threw his semifinal bout against Frye to give Frye a better chance at defeating Abbott in the finals.

2013: Mark Hunt and Antonio Silva put on one of the best fights of 2013 when they fought to a majority draw at UFC Fight Night 33.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Jose Aldo is the best defensive fighter in MMA history, and that’s honestly not even really very debatable, at least not in good faith. He’s also one of the five best fighters ever, and in all probability, the best fighter ever on a skill-for-skill basis. The latter two points are definitely up for debate, but I’ll go to my grave defending them. Max Holloway is a great fighter, the best 145er alive, and could end his career better than Aldo, but sorry Joe, he ain’t there yet. That’s my two cents, now here’s a poll to hear yours.

That’s all for today folks. Take it easy and see y’all tomorrow.

EXIT POLL

Poll Who is the featherweight GOAT? This poll is closed. 75% Jose Aldo (1332 votes)

24% Max Holloway (437 votes) 1769 votes total Vote Now

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