Coach Javier Mendez says Islam Makhachev would accept Max Holloway fight

Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight champion Islam
Makhachev‘s coach, Javier Mendez, claims his pupil is open to a
fight against Max
Holloway.

This comes after Holloway’s win at
UFC 329, where he faced Conor
McGregor at welterweight. “Blessed” emerged victorious, albeit
with their rematch ending in anticlimactic fashion as McGregor
suffered an early injury. Mendez believes that neither Makhachev
nor Holloway would refuse a matchup against the other.

Javier Mendez discusses a potential Islam Makhachev vs. Max
Holloway UFC matchup after UFC 329

Ahead of his UFC 329 bout on July 11, Holloway expressed his desire
to fight Makhachev. Despite being beaten and thoroughly outgrappled
by Charles
Oliveira earlier this year, Mendez knows that Holloway will not
stop pursuing a fight with the current 170-pound king. He also
believes that his fighter would not back down from the challenge if
UFC pushes for it.

“Whatever the UFC wants to do, Islam’s going to say yes and Max is
a legend and he doesn’t back down from anybody… You can’t cross Max
out in any competition because he’s game,” Mendez told Submission
Radio. “Whether he does well or not, well, I don’t know. But he’s
game for it, so you can’t ever cross him out. He’s got the mind of
a warrior and the mindset of a champion, so he’s up for any
challenge, I feel.”

‘I wanted that fight’: Javier Mendez on potential Conor
McGregor fight for Islam Makhachev

A McGregor victory could have strengthened the possibility of a
future bout between the Irishman and Makhachev, but that matchup is
now highly unlikely. The
American Kickboxing Academy coach further expressed that he was
disappointed with the result of UFC 329’s headliner.

“Bummer. I mean, I wanted that fight because, look, listen, we as
coaches, we live for those moments to have an opportunity to be
with something like that, that magnitude,” Mendez said. “I’ve been
fortunate enough to have quite a few of them, so to have another
mega fight like that around the corner, potentially, that would
have been a great honor.”