UFC 206 Preview: 'Blessed' Holloway's steady rise
Max Holloway's stint in the UFC has been a "Blessed" one.
The streaking Hawaiian will look to cap his division-best nine-fight win streak with his first taste of UFC gold when he faces Anthony Pettis for the interim featherweight title in the main event of Saturday's UFC 206. The 25-year-old has appeared unbeatable since losing to Conor McGregor in August 2013, defeating the likes of divisional mainstays Jeremy Stephens, Cub Swanson, and Ricardo Lamas, and becoming the promotion's youngest fighter to reach 10 wins in the Octagon with a first-round TKO of Charles Oliveira in August 2015.
But Holloway needed far more than the above-mentioned distinctions to earn his first title shot.
Holloway's dance with Pettis was initially scheduled to play second fiddle - with no strap on the line - to a light heavyweight title fight between champion Daniel Cormier and Anthony Johnson, that is, until Cormier suffered a torn adductor muscle that put the kibosh on the bout. As a result, Conor McGregor vacated the featherweight strap, thereby promoting Jose Aldo from interim to undisputed champion and anointing Holloway vs. Pettis the new UFC 206 main event, with the winner expected to unify the title in a fight with Aldo next.
Related: Holloway-Pettis interim title fight is UFC 206's new main event
The late arrangement suits Holloway just fine, as he's been vehemently lobbying for a meeting with Aldo since besting Lamas in his last outing at UFC 199. "Blessed" may be salivating at the prospect, but he'd be foolish to look past the ever lethal Pettis.
While Holloway was steadily cleaning house, Pettis took his UFC clout for an unpleasant ride.
After mounting a five-win run in which he won and successfully defended the UFC lightweight title, Pettis' fortune took a drastic turn for the worse, as Rafael dos Anjos rendered his reign a brief dalliance at UFC 185 before Eddie Alvarez and Edson Barboza got the better of a pair of decisions. The skid, the first of Pettis' otherwise enviable career, prompted an attempt at reinvention, which came in the form of a move down to 145 pounds.
The 29-year-old's featherweight foray quickly bore fruit with a third-round submission of Oliveira at UFC on FOX 21 in August, only for it to hit a wall - or in this case, the scale - at Friday's weigh-ins.
Pettis weighed in at 148 pounds, three over the permissible limit for title fights, meaning the implications of Saturday's main event now only extend to Holloway.
Related: Pettis misses weight ahead of UFC 206 interim title fight vs. Holloway
Third time's the charm
As if ending a two-year layoff wasn't a tall enough task in itself, a couple of unforeseen technicalities have put Tim Kennedy's comeback through the ringer.
The 37-year-old was initially slated to end his lengthy hiatus against Rashad Evans in a middleweight bout at UFC 205 until an issue with Evans' pre-fight medicals scrapped the bout on fight week, then again after they'd been rescheduled for this coming Saturday.
Tapping Kelvin Gastelum to replace Evans didn't come without its own obstacles, as the "TUF" winner needed approval from the Ontario Athletic Commission to step in after its New York counterpart suspended him for failing to weigh in at UFC 205, an infraction that nixed a welterweight meeting with Donald Cerrone.
Gastelum's six-month penance has since been lifted, so barring a freak accident in the next 30-some hours, consider Kennedy's return nothing less than a go.
Related: Gastelum-Kennedy official for UFC 206
Canada vs. Everybody
As per usual, the UFC's latest trip north of the border will feature a sizable helping of homegrown talent. Seven Canadians are set to face fighters hailing from a combined five nations, beginning with the main card's opener.
Alberta product Jordan Mein will end his near two-year retirement from MMA when he welcomes Norway's Emil Meek to the Octagon in a welterweight matchup. Mein stepped away from the sport after losing to Thiago Alves by second-round knockout at UFC 183 in January 2015.
Latvian import Misha Cirkunov - now residing in Toronto - will headline the prelims in a light heavyweight tilt with Ukraine's Nikita Krylov, while "The Quebec Kid" Olivier Aubin-Mercier will meet Nebraska product Drew Dober at lightweight moments prior.
Fellow Quebecer Valerie Letourneau will initiate Brazilian prospect Viviane Pereira to the Octagon, with vets Mitch Gagnon and John Makdessi set to face Americans Matthew Lopez and Lando Vannata, respectively.
The card's lone Torontonian, lightweight Jason Saggo, will vie for his third straight win when he meets Russian sambo man Rustam Khabilov on the early prelims.