JRE MMA Show #85 with Max Holloway
Max Holloway (guest), Joe Rogan (host), Narrator, Narrator, Narrator
In this episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, featuring Max Holloway and Joe Rogan, JRE MMA Show #85 with Max Holloway explores max Holloway Breaks Down Title Loss, Judging, Greatness And Grit Max Holloway joins Joe Rogan to dissect his loss to Alexander Volkanovski, explaining why he felt he’d won in the moment and how leg kicks, judging criteria, and the 10‑point must system shaped the outcome.
Max Holloway Breaks Down Title Loss, Judging, Greatness And Grit
Max Holloway joins Joe Rogan to dissect his loss to Alexander Volkanovski, explaining why he felt he’d won in the moment and how leg kicks, judging criteria, and the 10‑point must system shaped the outcome.
They dive deep into systemic issues in MMA judging, arguing for martial-artist judges, better scoring models, and more weight classes and hydration-based weigh-ins to protect fighters.
The conversation ranges across heavyweight power punchers, absurd genetics, training philosophy, and fighter mindsets, highlighting how Holloway’s work ethic, cardio, and mentality were forged by his upbringing in Hawaii.
Holloway reflects on his rapid rise from teen kickboxer to UFC champion, his unwavering desire to fight the best—including potential superfights—and his belief that greatness comes from embracing chaos, hard work, and constant competition.
Key Takeaways
Judging in MMA is fundamentally misaligned with the sport.
Holloway and Rogan argue that boxing’s 10‑point must system and non–martial-artist judges create inconsistent, sometimes incompetent scoring, especially around leg kicks, takedowns, and effective damage.
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Ex-fighters and skilled practitioners should be judges.
They push for commissions to prioritize former fighters and lifelong martial artists as judges and refs, because they better understand subtle exchanges, grappling impact, and what actually wins fights.
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Volume, pressure, and cardio can neutralize raw knockout power.
Using Aldo, Barboza, Wilder, and others as examples, they show how power is often genetic, but a high-output, attritional style with elite conditioning—like Holloway’s—can systematically break powerful opponents over time.
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Training must reflect real fight demands, not just aesthetics.
Holloway focuses on “go muscle, not show muscle”—four weekly strength-and-conditioning sessions built around functional strength, circuits, and sprints, always scheduled so he can still push hard in technical sessions.
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The weight-cutting system incentivizes dangerous behavior.
They advocate for more weight classes and ONE FC–style hydration testing to keep fighters closer to natural weight and reduce extreme cuts, arguing that current rules are illogical and unsafe.
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Mindset and self-belief are as critical as talent.
Holloway recalls telling people in high school he’d be a UFC fighter and later a champion, using early losses and skepticism—even from family—as fuel while insisting he’ll fight any “greatest ever,” including Khabib.
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Fighters thrive on structure, trust, and a strong support team.
Holloway delegates logistics, legal battles, and scheduling to a tight, low-ego team so he can focus solely on training and fighting, showing how crucial the right environment is for sustained elite performance.
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Notable Quotes
““Out of all my title fights, this is the least damage I took—and I lost my damn belt.””
— Max Holloway
““This is not a street fight. It’s a game—and he out-pointed me in the game.””
— Max Holloway
““We shouldn’t have boxing’s 10‑point must system. It’s not our system.””
— Joe Rogan
““I don’t need the belt to be a champion. I know I’m a champion.””
— Max Holloway
““If you put me in an octagon with him, I’m gonna fight him. Is Khabib human? He’s human just like me and you.””
— Max Holloway
Questions Answered in This Episode
How would MMA fights and careers look different if the UFC adopted hydration tests and more weight classes like ONE FC?
Max Holloway joins Joe Rogan to dissect his loss to Alexander Volkanovski, explaining why he felt he’d won in the moment and how leg kicks, judging criteria, and the 10‑point must system shaped the outcome.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
What specific scoring criteria or judging model could replace the 10‑point must system to better reflect actual damage and dominance?
They dive deep into systemic issues in MMA judging, arguing for martial-artist judges, better scoring models, and more weight classes and hydration-based weigh-ins to protect fighters.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
In a rematch with Volkanovski, what concrete tactical adjustments could Holloway make to neutralize the leg kicks without sacrificing his volume style?
The conversation ranges across heavyweight power punchers, absurd genetics, training philosophy, and fighter mindsets, highlighting how Holloway’s work ethic, cardio, and mentality were forged by his upbringing in Hawaii.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
How much of elite cardio and durability is truly genetic versus trainable, and can a power puncher ever fully transform into a high-volume pressure fighter?
Holloway reflects on his rapid rise from teen kickboxer to UFC champion, his unwavering desire to fight the best—including potential superfights—and his belief that greatness comes from embracing chaos, hard work, and constant competition.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
What are the long-term mental and physical trade-offs of Holloway’s “embrace chaos, outlast everyone” approach to fighting at the highest level?
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Transcript Preview
... you know?
Took yoga-
Nice.
... hung out with my dog, and now we're here. All right, we're live.
Nice.
What's up, Max? How are you, brother? Good to see you.
I'm good. Yeah, how you doing?
I'm good.
(laughs)
Do-
Finally here. I've been-
Oh, yeah. (laughs)
I've asked you for about, I think, uh, what, 17? 17 fights straight. When am I getting on?
(laughs)
(laughs)
We tried to organize it a couple of times, but, hey, man, you live on an island in the middle of the ocean.
I know.
It's, it's a little, it's a different thing, you know, logistically.
I know, I know. I know, I know, but, uh, we've, you finally made it happen.
Yes.
You the man.
We finally made it happen.
You the man. I can't wait.
So how you doing, man? Everything all right?
Everything good. I feel great.
You walking good?
I'm wa- walking great.
Yeah.
I'm walking great.
You, you look totally fine.
Oh, yeah. I was, I, I told you guys, I was, (laughs) I had a after party after the fight. I was boogieing. I was doing the power slide.
Were you really? (laughs)
Yeah. Chainsmokers, they, uh, they was, they was actually at Excess. Well, well, uh, they, they had their concert thing at Excess and, uh, they told, they brang me up into their booth, and I was trying to get him to let me jump on and off the stage with him because he looked like he was having fun.
(laughs) That's amazing, man, because your left leg, it looked like, at least during the fight, it was getting busted up.
Yeah, yeah.
But-
You know, it's-
You're just used to it.
It, it, yeah, it is what it is, you know.
Yeah.
I, I, I heard, I saw, I got to watch the fight a little bit over, you know, and, uh, what, you know, talking about the fight, a lot of people, uh, actually about the press conference-
Mm-hmm.
... when I said I thought I won, I think some people, I, uh, people was taking it, uh, taking it the wrong way. A lot of his fans were taking it the wrong way. It's like, when I was in there, in my mind, I thought I won because I, when you think about it, I, I thought I was landing more damaging shots to the head and body, you know.
Mm-hmm.
I knew leg kicks, he was landing here and there, but I didn't think it was too much until after I saw whatever happened, you know. But at, t- at the end of the day, you know, i- it's like, it's what I said, I just... My, my legs felt fine, I went to the after party, I danced, and, and if, if I put it in this way, you know, out of my, all my title fights, this is the least damage I took in a title fight, and I lost my damn belt, so... (laughs)
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