Gallery Photos: Best of Max Holloway view 137 images

Max Holloway still sees a future for himself at lightweight after losing his divisional debut to Dustin Poirier at UFC 236.

Despite Holloway’s (20-4 MMA, 16-4 UFC) next move being a return to featherweight to defend his title against Frankie Edgar (23-6-1 MMA, 17-6-1 UFC) at UFC 240 in July, “Blessed” considered his business at 155 pounds to be unfinished.

Holloway made a jump up in weight class in April to rematch Poirier for the interim belt at UFC 236. He lost a unanimous decision in the headlining bout, snapping his 13-fight winning streak inside the octagon. The Hawaiian has always said he’s prepared to accept any fight at any weight at any time, but thinks lightweight is a particularly compelling division.

He fell short against Poirier, but it was hardly a shameful performance tand Holloway thinks it proved he fits right in with the best in the weight class.

“Birds fly, fishes swim, I fight,” Holloway told MMA Junkie on Tuesday. “It ain’t nothing. You send me a contract with Daniel Cormier’s name on top tomorrow, you know I’m signing it. ‘DC’ I love you, my man, but I’m a fighter. It is what it is. This is a bump in the road and I can’t wait to get back. ’55 is still there. ’55 there’s a lot of challenges.

“When I lost to Dustin the first time at ’45, the ladder was so long to the belt. But the ’55 ladder, it’s right there. I’m in the mix. If I go up there I feel I’ll be right in the mix with all the top contenders. No disrespect to them, but I think it’s a fun weight class to be. We’ll see what happens.”

Holloway said he’s reluctant to discuss details of the Poirier fight because it’s still less than two months old and “it’s going to sound like I make excuses but I don’t.” Holloway said Poirier was simply the “better man.”

“Nothing really surprised me,” Holloway said. “I knew Dustin was game and he was going to show up to the fight and he did. He did that day. He got the nod and that’s what it is. I ain’t mad. I ain’t mad at him. I ain’t mad at nobody. If I wanted to win the fight I should’ve finished. I couldn’t find myself and fair play to him. He went out there and did his thing and he got the W.”

Following the loss to Poirier, UFC President Dana White said he felt Holloway was somewhat undersized in the lightweight division and wanted to see him back at 145 pounds. Holloway only had 50 days from fight announcement to fight night to prepare for the move up, though, and perhaps a longer adjustment period would’ve resulted in a different scenario.

Holloway doesn’t see it that way, though, and regardless of whether he’s the bigger or smaller man, he said it’s on him to find a way to win.

“The adjusting, whatever, I’m a fighter,” Holloway said. “If they called me up to fight tomorrow, I’ll fight tomorrow. That’s what I do. I got no excuses. I ain’t taking nothing away from Dustin. You guys will see. The next time I’m at ’55, the next time we at ’70, 185 – whatever weight class I choose to do (you will see).”

Although Holloway is coming off his first loss since Aug. 2013, he said it’s important to not look back too hard and focus on what’s next. He’s already booked for his next fight against Edgar at UFC 240, which takes place July 27 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, and said he’s ready to start a new winning streak.

“The Blessed Express is still full steam ahead,” Holloway said. “You guys better stay buckled on because the seats is overfilling. You guys better hold on tight because if anybody ever went to Japan they have this bullet train. The Blessed Express is coming 10 times faster.”

For more on UFC 240, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.