Holloway smashes records with bloody UFC 231 win

The tributes were quick to roll in after featherweight champion Max (Blessed) Holloway’s bloody, brutal and lopsided TKO win over No. 1 challenger Brian (T-City) Ortega at UFC 231.

“What a fight ... You are a great champion,” tweeted lightweight title-holder Khabib Nurmagomedov.

“Feels like he is gonna run this division about as long as he wants,” added UFC welterweight Ben Askren, a former One Championship and Bellator champion.

“He possibly could be the greatest (featherweight) ever,” summed up UFC president Dana White.

Brazil’s Jose Aldo, who defended his WEC and UFC titles nine times, was long considered the gold standard of MMA featherweights. Holloway beat him twice, leaving him a bloody mess.

If White has his way, Holloway (20-3-0) will turns his sights on the lightweight division next. White wants the Hawaiian to move up to 155 pounds to avoid the gruelling weight cut to make 145.

“I think he’s done everything he can do at 145,” he said. Avoiding the Blessed Express will have UFC featherweights heaving a sigh of relief. And likely help their health. Coming off a year-long absence due to a variety of ailments, Holloway silenced any doubters with a masterful striking performance Saturday night before a soldout Scotiabank Arena crowd of 19,039.

And he did it against a quality opponent.

The 27-year-old Ortega arrived unbeaten in 15 fights. A Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt who can tie opponents up like a pretzel without going to the ground, the laid-back Californian can also punch. He handed former Frankie (The Answer) Edgar his first stoppage loss with an uppercut that literally lifted the former lightweight champion off his feet while turning out his lights. But Ortega (14-1-0 with one no contest) had no answers for Holloway, who battered him for four rounds until the doctor stopped the beating.

Ortega’s left eye was virtually closed, his nose likely broken and his face a bloody mask. It was a testament to Ortega’s toughness that he made it that far.

“One of the sickest fights I’ve ever seen ... What a fight,” said White, who applauded the doctor’s decision to halt the bout.