Getting punched in the face is a tough way to make a living, but it’s not as hard as teaching third grade maths. Just ask Max Holloway.
Like millions of others, the former featherweight champion has been forced to make some drastic changes as COVID-19 disrupted the whole world.
For Holloway, who fights Calvin Kattar on Fight Island this weekend - that meant doing a training camp over Zoom, lockdowns and home-schooling his son, Rush.
The toughest task? Maths.
“Oh, man…it’s terrible. I swear,” Holloway told Sporting News.
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“Some of the things they’re learning now, you’ve gotta show your work and it’s very complicated. I helped him on one thing and we got the right answer, but we didn’t do the right work and show how the equation was supposed to be solved and ended up getting it wrong.
“It’s tough. Third-grade maths is quite irritating to be honest.”
The COVID disruptions also allowed him to attend to a few things he’d been overlooking.
In 2018, Holloway was forced out of a featherweight title defence against Brian Ortega when he displayed “concussion-like symptoms” during fight week. The late-notice withdrawal and subsequent inability to train while he addressed the issue sent him into some dark places.
“People put me on this pedestal, like we’re superheroes or we’re superhuman,” Holloway told Sporting News at the time.
“But sometimes even superheroes have got to fight demons.”
He began addressing those “demons” back then, but says he’s been able to continue that journey over the past 12 months.
“It’s helped me realise I need to train smarter, not harder. I got to take care of some injuries I’ve been having over the years and I just feel good,” he said.
“When everything was normal, I think I was doing too much and pushing myself too hard, instead of being smart. Like my recovery – that’s way more important to me.
“Not just my physical recovery, but my mental recovery.
“It forced me to grow – not even as a fighter, but a person in general.”
That’s typical of Holloway’s approach to fighting and life. “It is what it is” has become his catchphrase (he used it three times in our interview) but they aren’t empty words. When Holloway says it, what he means is “you can’t change the past, move on.”
In 2020, that’s exactly what he did.
After losing his rematch with Alex Volkanovski via a razor-thin decision, Holloway proposed to his partner, professional surfer Alessa Quizon, and – outside of the stressful home-schooling sessions – he was able to spend more quality time with Mini Blessed.
“It’s been crazy all this lockdown stuff, but I ended up locking down my girl – I’ve got a fiancé now – and I got a bunch of time to spend with my son,” he said.
“There was a lot of bad last year, but with the bad always comes the good. We always see the bad, but hopefully we can get past this.”
With a strong claim to being the greatest UFC featherweight of all time, Holloway has another tough assignment on Fight Island this weekend when he faces the rising Calvin Kattar.
Ranked sixth at 145-pounds, Kattar is coming off a highlight reel knockout of Jeremy Stephens and is focused on continuing his rapid ascent up the rankings.
“A lot of people are talking about his boxing and striking,” Holloway said.
“I believe I was put on this earth to strike, also. I can’t wait to test myself against someone like him and go out there and get it done.
“I’m a fighter, I’ve got Calvin in front of me, I respect him and I’m not overlooking him.”