Born To Fight: Max Holloway On How He Got HereAs skaters, we often find ourselves engaged in brutal battles between the trick we’re trying to do and the physical universe that so badly doesn’t want us to do it. Our night, and sometimes the entire rest of the week or even month, can hinge, for better or worse, on whether or not we ride away victorious. There have been many names for our endeavors. Battles. Clinics. Fights. Each of them would accurately describe what we go through as skaters at every level of the game. From the first kickflip to the last. But what if we weren’t skaters? What if the thing that stood between us and victory wasn’t a handrail or a set of stairs or some manual we’re trying to get our Daewon Song on? What if it were something that fought back, better yet what if we’re someone who not only fought back but was trained to kill you with his bare hands? A man who knows the only way he’s going home happy is if you’re sprawled out on the floor in a daze, with stars in your eyes, thinking about nothing but where in the world you went wrong. I think if there were anyone we could identify with in our battles as skaters, it would be, in some strange way, our brethren in the world of MMA. During COVID I was lucky enough to sit down with Honolulu-native and MMA Featherweight Max Holloway—born Jerome Max Keli’i Holloway—or Blessed, as he’s known in the fight world, and talk to him about life, family, his son and his career in the world as a fighter. A lot of skaters follow the UFC, but for those of you who don’t know, in UFC featherweight history, Holloway has: the most wins, finishes, KO/TKO wins, the longest win streak, the longest total fight time, the most significant strikes landed, and the most total strikes landed. And this past weekend it was on full display as he knocked out the Korean Zombie, Chan Sung Yung in the 3rd round. So, in the wake of his most recent accomplishment,