Arman Tsarukyan was unimpressed with Max Holloway’s latest performance.
Holloway (27-9) put his BMF title on the line in a lightweight matchup against Charles Oliveira at UFC 326 earlier this month. Oliveira took Holloway down with ease and dominated him on the ground for five rounds to earn a unanimous decision win. There are currently rumors floating about Conor McGregor returning to action against Holloway.
Tsarukyan believes Holloway is way past his heyday. According to “Ahalkalakets,” Holloway is washed up and fighting merely to collect his paychecks. Tsarukyan was surprised to see Oliveira take Holloway down at will. Tsarukyan questions how Holloway, with nearly two decades of experience, couldn’t defend a takedown against Oliveira, whose wrestling isn’t his strongest suit. While Oliveira is primarily known for his jiu-jitsu, the Brazilian’s win over Holloway felt like a wrestling masterclass to Tsarukyan.
‘He Looked So Bad’
“Max is done already,” Tsarukyan said on “The Ariel Helwani Show.” “He is just making money and then he’ll retire. He’s not that Max anymore. His last fight he looked so bad, that’s crazy. I was surprised – how you cannot wrestle? Zero wrestling. You’ve been in the sport 20 years and you cannot even defend takedown from Charles Oliveira. Charles Oliveira has no takedowns. He has good jiu-jitsu but wrestling, I’ve never seen him wrestle very well. But it was like a masterclass in wrestling from Charles. And I thought he went to Dagestan for two to three years and then came back.”
Holloway has alternated wins over Justin Gaethje and Dustin Poirier with losses against Ilia Topuria and Oliveira in his last four outings.
