UFC news: Max Holloway receives hero's welcome back home, could face Frankie Edgar next

Max Holloway recently defeated Jose Aldo at UFC 212 to become the new UFC featherweight champion. The Hawaiian defeated the Brazilian in the third round via a TKO and is now unbeaten in 11 UFC fights. He is also the first Hawaiian champion since BJ Penn.

Along with Holloway, another Hawaiian — Yancy Medeiros — was also on the main fight card that night, and he too won his bout via a TKO, defeating Erick Silva in the second round. This was Medeiros' second straight win since making his debut in the Welterweight division, with his first win coming against Sean Spencer.

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The two Hawaiian fighters recently returned home and both of them received a hero's welcome at the Honolulu International Airport. Hundreds of people gathered to meet the new UFC featherweight champion, and the celebrations continued at Waianae.

Following that win, everyone would have expected Holloway to take some time off and relax, but he can't wait to defend his title and he wants to do it in Hawaii. Holloway has asked the UFC to stage an event at Aloha Stadium, the biggest venue in the state that can pack in about 50,000 UFC fans.

However, Dana White revealed that he is scared to set up a major pay per view in an open-air stadium, particularly due to the unpredictable tropical climate in Hawaii. Despite that, it's only a matter of time before the UFC decided to expand to Hawaii, as many top UFC stars like Travis Browne, Brad Tavares, Louis Smolka and, of course, BJ Penn are from there.

While Holloway may not get a chance to defend his title in front of his home fans, he does have an opponent ready to fight him — Frankie Edgar — if he really can't wait to defend his title. The former UFC lightweight champion feels there's only one featherweight title fight to make: himself against new champion Holloway.

Edgar has won seven of his last eight fights, which includes a submission victory over Cub Swanson who is another fighter in contention to face Holloway. But Edgar questioned how he came into contention, especially since he has already defeated him.

"There is no one else. C'mon. There's no one that makes sense more than me, no one that's done what I've done to get it. I don't see how he's in consideration, you know? Since me and Cub fought, I've fought nothing but top-10, top-five guys," MMA hour quoted Edgar as saying.

"I don't think he's fought anyone in the top 10 and he's also lost a match since then. So I don't think how that's even, you can't even compare the two."