Khabib Nurmagomedov believes Max Holloway 'has a chance to become the best fighter of all time' following record-breaking win over Calvin Kattar
- Khabib Nurmagomedov is current pound-for-pound No 1 in the UFC rankings
- Debate rages among fans over who is the greatest fighter in MMA history
- Russian watched Max Holloway's demolition of Calvin Kattar on Saturday
- He says Holloway has the chance to become the greatest at current trajectory
Khabib Nurmagomedov believes Max Holloway has a real chance of going on to become the greatest MMA fighter of all time.
The Russian was hugely impressed by the Hawaiian's record-breaking win over Calvin Kattar on Saturday night.
Holloway is vastly experienced and already regarded as the best featherweight of all time despite losing both contests with current champion Alexander Volkanovski.
Max Holloway put on an incredible performance to defeat Calvin Kattar (right)
Khabib Nurmagomedov believes Holloway has the chance to be the best ever in MMA
At 29, he is still a young man in MMA terms with room to develop and Saturday's showcase was exceptional.
He landed 445 significant strikes at a percentage of 59 and 274 of those were to Kattar's head. The previous record for significant strikes was 290.
Holloway picked up a wide decision win with one of the most one-sided main event wins of all time and Khabib was full of praise.
'I think about Max, he is already one of the best who has competed in MMA,' he told Full Reptile.
Holloway smashed a handful of records in his remarkable victory on Saturday night
'He is one of the best and is probably the best Featherweight of all time. I think it was his best performance.
'When we look at Max, he is not old but he has a lot of fights in UFC. I think his prime time is coming, it’s not come yet. Maybe this year or maybe next year is going to be his prime time. It was not when he was champion, his time is going to come I he keeps focused doing everything he has to do.
He added: 'I really like Max, we were supposed to fight in 2018. This was his best performance, but in future, in a couple of years he has the chance to show and become maybe the best fighter of all time.'
Khabib will weigh up whether he wants to return to the cage after watching UFC 257
Khabib himself is regarded among the greats but perhaps not the greatest of all time as his number of fights against top level competition does not compare with other legends of the sport.
He is currently retired from the sport following his win over Justin Gaethje but told Dana White he will consider a comeback if he is impressed by what any of his rivals deliver at UFC 257 this weekend.
Conor McGregor takes on Dustin Poirier in the main event with Dan Hooker meeting Michael Chandler on the main card.
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