UFC star Max Holloway congratulated Alexander Volkanovski following their trilogy fight at UFC 276 last weekend.

In one of the most highly anticipated fights of the year, and one of the most important UFC featherweight title fights of all-time, Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway put on another entertaining display in Las Vegas on Saturday night.

While Volkanovski came into the bout with a 2-0 lead in the series, many felt as if Holloway was going to give him another run for his money - but in the end, that didn’t prove to be the case.

‘The Great’ ran away with the win on all three judges’ scorecards, emphatically putting an end to this rivalry via unanimous decision.

There was a hint of bad blood in the lead-up to the third fight but immediately after the bout came to an end, you could see the mutual respect that existed between these elite 145-pound competitors.

In a statement released to social media following his loss, Holloway proved once and for all why he’s one of the nicest guys in the sport.

“I'm still up 2-0 on knockdowns for trilogy. Prob gonna need a 4th to settle this [laughing emoji]. Go get that 55 strap. You earned the shot. You're #1 P4P right now.”

What’s next for Blessed?

The future of Max Holloway will likely be determined by what Alexander Volkanovski does next. The Australian sensation has continually teased the idea of heading up to lightweight in order to try and become a two-weight champion, and he reiterated that desire several times following his win at the T-Mobile Arena.

Holloway could easily then stay at featherweight in an attempt to reclaim the gold, but in equal measure, he may also want to jump up to 155 so that he can stop having to make that extra cut.

He unsuccessfully attempted to win a second belt of his own when he went up and challenged Dustin Poirier for the interim strap in 2019, but he’s older and wiser now.

Before he gets to any of that, though, we’d argue the best course of action would be taking some time off.