Max Holloway Takes High Road After Anthony Pettis Misses UFC 206 Weight

Anthony Pettis and Max Halloway still will fight each other in the UFC 206 main event Saturday, but only one of them will have a shot at the interim featherweight belt.

Pettis missed weight by three pounds at Friday’s weigh-in, which means he won’t be eligible to win the interim title, even if he beats Holloway in the five-round bout.

Holloway, who still can win the interim belt with a victory Saturday at Air Canada Centre in Toronto, took to Twitter after the big news to weigh in. And instead of taking shots at his UFC 206 opponent, Holloway appeared to take the high road while still voicing disappointment.

1/2 like i said before we professionals and our first job is to make weight. This isn't about just me and my team it's about the fans

— Max Holloway (@BlessedMMA) December 9, 2016

2/2 it's about the 6 it's about the employs of the @ufc its Everyone. Entire sport takes a hit because of this.

— Max Holloway (@BlessedMMA) December 9, 2016

3lbs is a lot to miss but the guy was trying and I respect that. At the end of the day it is what it is.

— Max Holloway (@BlessedMMA) December 9, 2016

It sucks it happened this way but I am glad that we still get to fight for everyone tomorrow night

— Max Holloway (@BlessedMMA) December 9, 2016

Pettis told MMAFighting.com he had cut his weight to 146.5, but the decision was made not to push it any further down to the 145-pound limit for the featherweight fight.

“It was a team call,” Pettis said, via MMAFighting.com. “My body just wouldn’t let go of that extra weight. It’s just one those things. We did everything right beforehand, everything was on point. My body just gave out. I had nothing left to give. In the end, we decided that my career and health are more important than those two extra pounds.”

UFC president Dana White also reacted to the shocking news in an interview Friday with TSN SportsCentre

“I’m not happy, but listen, it happens,” White said, via MMAFighting.com. “Believe me when I tell you, Anthony Pettis wanted to make weight. He’s been working for months for this day. He came in, when he landed here in Toronto, he was 10 pounds (over), so he should’ve made the weight. What that tells you is he’s too old and he’s too big to make that weight, is my opinion. So we’ll see where we go from here.”

Since the fight still will go on, they came face-to-face during the UFC 206 weigh-ins.

VIDEO: Max Holloway and Anthony Pettis square off at #ufc206 weigh-ins. Who ya got? pic.twitter.com/U3pQkVqOIW

— MMA Fighting (@MMAFighting) December 9, 2016

The interim title bout was set up after a Daniel Cormier suffered an injury, which forced him to withdraw from the original UFC 206 main event. Jose Aldo currently is the featherweight champion after Conor McGregor vacated his title.