After his remarkable performance at UFC 296, Josh Emmett knows he earned the right to make the callout to his fellow fighters in his division. And if “CCO” is to be asked who wants to fight next year, it would be the No. 1-ranked featherweight fighter Max Holloway, his shortcut to the title shot.
After his recent win that sent Bryce Mitchell to a convulsion, Emmett made it clear that with his age, he is trying to find the shortest path leading to the title shot. The 38-year-old received a callout from Giga Chikadze, who was supposed to fight him last weekend but had to withdraw due to a torn groin. The fighter, however, turned it down and reiterated his plan, explaining that fighting those at the lower rank is just “high, high risk for not a whole lot of reward.”
When asked whom he would like to face, the No. 6-ranked featherweight fighter thinks there is no other perfect choice than Holloway. Aside from the current position of “Blessed” in the division, Emmett thinks the fellow fighter’s record and past opponents make him a beautiful target.
“Besides Volkanovski, I think [Max Holloway] is one of the best featherweights of all time,” Emmett said in an interview on The MMA Hour. “But Max has beat everybody. The only person who has his number is Volkanovski, so he’s the No. 1 contender. He’s cleared out pretty much everyone in the division and fought everyone but myself. It would be an honor to fight him, and that’s a sure shot to the title. Going in and beating him, there’s nothing left but to fight for the title.”
Indeed, having Holloway for his next might be the fastest path to a title shot for Emmett. The fighter doesn’t have any current fight booked, making this option doable for Emmett. And as pointed out by CCO, Holloway already faced almost all of the fighters in the division, including Brian Ortega and Yair Rodriguez, who are both in the top 5 of the ranking. With this, it is only up to Holloway to make the decision and give Emmett the ticket to a possible title shot.
