At UFC 236 last month, Max Holloway challenged Dustin Poirier for the interim lightweight title. He came up short, losing a hard-fought unanimous decision. But just because he lost his first bid for a UFC lightweight championship, that doesn’t mean he’s done with the division forever. In fact, Holloway says he still sees a future for himself at lightweight, sooner rather than later.

“Birds fly, fishes swim, I fight,” Holloway told MMA Junkie recently. “It ain’t nothing. You send me a contract with Daniel Cormier’s name on top tomorrow, you know I’m signing it. ‘DC’ I love you, my man, but I’m a fighter. It is what it is. This is a bump in the road and I can’t wait to get back. ’55 is still there. ’55 there’s a lot of challenges.

“When I lost to Dustin the first time at ’45, the ladder was so long to the belt. But the ’55 ladder, it’s right there. I’m in the mix. If I go up there I feel I’ll be right in the mix with all the top contenders. No disrespect to them, but I think it’s a fun weight class to be. We’ll see what happens.”

UFC 136 was Holloway’s first time competing at 155 pounds since he was a teenager and many speculated that the jump up in weight played a role in Poirier’s victory. Holloway actually out-landed Poirier in the fight, but Poirier, who has been competing at lightweight for years, took the unanimous decision in part because his strikes appeared to be the more damaging blows. But Holloway was quick to write off the size difference as a major factor, saying that he will compete at lightweight again in the future, and maybe even heavier.

“The adjusting, whatever, I’m a fighter,” Holloway said. “If they called me up to fight tomorrow, I’ll fight tomorrow. That’s what I do. I got no excuses. I ain’t taking nothing away from Dustin. You guys will see. The next time I’m at ’55, the next time we at ’70, 185 – whatever weight class I choose to do [you will see].”

But for now, Holloway has his hands full with his own division. The UFC featherweight champion is suddenly sitting atop a division filled with challengers to his throne. Up next for “Blessed” is former UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar. Then, should he get past Edgar, a defense against Alexander Volkanovski appears to be in the offing. Volkanovski was upset when he got passed over for a title shot in favor of Edgar, but, speaking at Tactical Strength and Conditioning (via Hawaii News Now) Holloway was quick to remind everyone the long road he took to get to the title, and said he’s be more than willing to oblige Volkanovski, after he handles business against Edgar.

“The UFC was holding off for that Alex and Jose [Aldo] fight and I think they wanted to see something more, I don’t know. Maybe they put him in the oven to let him bake a little more for me. Look at what I had to do, you know? I had to bake in the oven for a bit. I think they had the temperature on at about 200 [degrees] or something. It is what it is. I can’t wait. If that’s the guy and that’s the date, that’s the date. But first things first: We got “The Answer” and I got a bunch of questions so I can’t wait.”

Max Holloway is expected to defend his UFC featherweight title against Frankie Edgar on July 27 at UFC 240 in Edmonton.

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MUST-READ STORIES

Headline. Rory MacDonald vs. Neiman Gracie to headline Bellator 222.

Goals. Alexander Gustafsson looking to beat Anthony Smith, stay busy in 2019.

Let me go. John Lineker to UFC: ‘If you don’t like me or my style just let me go’.

Missed Fists. The best highlights from MMA last week.

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VIDEO STEW

The MMAFighting Live Chat.

Is Gustafsson the best European MMA fighter?

Inside the Octagon: Moraes vs. Cejudo.

John Kavanagh at Bellator Birmingham.

Rashad calls Jon the GOAT.

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LISTEN UP

Eurobash. Interviews with Volkan Oezdemir and Myles Price.

Heavy Hands. Previewing UFC Stockholm and the undercard of UFC 238.

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SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE

Let my man fight.

Elias responding to the haters.

Those are damn good stats.

Vicious trash talk.

Update.

Mad.

Eager.

Fight poster.

Congrats!

This is definitely something Tony does.

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FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Juliana Velasquez (8-0) vs. Kristina Williams (3-1); Bellator 224, July 12.

Germaine de Randamie (8-3) vs. Aspen Ladd (8-0); UFC Sacramento, July 13.

Josh Emmett (14-2) vs. Mirsad Bektic (13-1); UFC Sacramento, July 13.

Andre Fili (19-6) vs. Sheymon Moraes (11-3); UFC Sacramento, July 13.

Gian Villante (17-11) vs. Mike Rodriguez (10-3); UFC Sacramento, July 13.

Pingyuan Liu (15-4) vs. Jonathan Martinez (10-2); UFC Sacramento, July 13.

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FINAL THOUGHTS

Considering how poorly Team Alpha Male has been doing as of late, UFC TAM could end up becoming a pretty downer of an evening.

Thanks for reading and see y’all tomorrow.

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EXIT POLL

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If you find something you’d like to see in the Morning Report, hit up @JedKMeshew on Twitter and let him know about it. Also follow MMAFighting on Instagram, add us on Snapchat at MMA-Fighting, and like us on Facebook.