UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway has some questions about the mindset of Jose Aldo going into their title rematch at UFC 218.

Aldo (26-3 MMA, 8-2 UFC), who challenges Holloway (18-3 MMA, 14-3 UFC) in the main event of the Dec. 2 pay-per-view card at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, is looking to gain revenge after “Blessed” took his belt by third-round TKO at UFC 212 in June.

Aldo said he’s more motivated than ever, mainly because this time he enters the fight as the challenger with everything to gain, and not as the titleholder with everything to lose. Holloway said he takes umbrage to that, though, because Aldo should have had plenty to get up for the first time they shared the octagon.

UFC 212 took place in Aldo’s hometown of Rio de Janeiro and saw red-hot Holloway coming in with bold claims that he was going to take the belt in front of the Brazilian fans. That should have been enough to get Aldo’s motivation to its peak, but apparently that wasn’t the case.

“This guy, we fought him in his hometown, he was the champion, and for him to be saying that now he feels way more motivated; fighting for your country and fighting in front of your people for your belt is not enough motivation, what’s going on?” Holloway said on today’s UFC 218 media call. “I’m motivated. The belt is great. You know what comes with the belt? Better payday, pay-per-views and a lot more stuff, but the belt is the belt. A fight is a fight.

“I ain’t trying to go out there and get my butt whooped, my ass whooped in front of billions of people watching at home, thousands of people. That’s not what I’m about. I’m in the hurt business. I’m out there, and I want to win.

“I don’t care who I fight. I could fight this guy 10 times in a row. I’ll be motivated. That’s just what it is. That’s this warrior spirit that I have in myself and this whole belief I have in myself. It doesn’t take much to motivate me. I don’t know why people talk about, ‘It’s hard to get motivation.’ You’re in the wrong business, man. In this business you can get hurt. There’s another guy trying to hurt you seriously in there. This guy’s talking about motivation. It just blows my mind.”

Holloway, No. 1 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA featherweight rankings, has backed up his words with actions in the lead-up to UFC 218. The Hawaiian was originally set to defend against No. 3 Frankie Edgar, but the former lightweight champion suffered an injury and was forced to withdraw on short notice. That allowed Aldo, who was already booked to fight at UFC on FOX 26 in December, the opportunity to step in for his rematch.

There are plenty of previous instances throughout UFC history in which a main-event title fight has fallen apart on short notice and the champion did not remain on the card. Holloway said he intended on fighting at UFC 218 no matter what, though, even if it meant taking a fight against low-ranked opposition or moving up to lightweight.

“I don’t care if it’s him; I don’t care who it was,” Holloway said. “I was ready for the next man up. Line them up, and I’m going to knock them down. Too much people depend on, ‘This is what he did in the first fight; this is what he’ll do in the second fight.’ We don’t know what happens. I’m getting ready for the best Jose Aldo in the second fight, just like I did for the first fight. I was getting ready for the best Frankie Edgar, now it’s Aldo.”

It doesn’t take much to get Holloway’s blood boiling to step in the octagon, but he does feel there’s upside to his situation. Aldo suffered just two losses in his opening 12 years as a professional fighter, and now Holloway has the chance to beat one of the sport’s all-time greats twice in six months.

“At the end of the day this is a legacy fight,” Holloway said. “This is huge for legacy. Jose back to back. Nobody ever beat him twice. Me being the greatest featherweight champion is a long journey. This is a step. That was a stepping-stone. I’ve just got to focus. I got to focus on this one first and then I’ve got to get defenses. He’s got six or seven or eight of them.”

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