Former UFC featherweight world champion Max Holloway has just received his black belt in BJJ from legendary coach Pedro Sauer. Although Holloway has always been known as more of a striker than a grappler during his MMA career, he’s worked tirelessly to develop his Jiu-Jitsu skills over the years. He has still relied on his ability to maintain a consistently high volume of strikes to win fights, but he has also shown off his submission threats and ability to get back up against some of the best in the world. Holloway has now spent almost two decades on the mats and even trains in the gi too.
The promotion to black belt, just like it is for any practitioner who reaches this rank, is a recognition of just how far that Holloway has come since first picking up the sport. The promotion comes a little over four years after he was awarded his brown belt too, so it’s not as if he’s been fast-tracked through the ranks either. Sauer actually gave Holloway his black belt immediately after his latest MMA fight, recognising his performance in it at the same time. Holloway was putting his symbolic BMF title on the line against Charles Oliveira at UFC 326; a fight that was predicted to put his grappling to the test.
That’s exactly what happened on the night too, but even quicker than anyone would have predicted. Holloway successfully defended against the threat of a rear-naked choke in the very first round, and not many fighters would be able to do that against Oliveira. Holloway escaped several submission attempts over the next four rounds and although he lost the decision cleanly, he survived attacks that would have finished most fighters. Anyone watching should have been able to respect how solid Holloway’s defense was, and Sauer even referenced how impressed he was with it when awarding him with the new belt.
Pedro Sauer shared the news that he had promoted Max Holloway to black belt in BJJ in a recent post to his official Instagram account:
