From featherweight champion Max Holloway's perspective, his relationship with the UFC is very simple. 

"I'm not the matchmaker, I'm the fighter," Holloway told CBS Sports' "State of Combat" podcast last week. "I tell them to send me the hardest fight, put [my opponent's name] and my name on a paper, send it to me and I'll sign in and send it back."

It's a scenario that played out exactly the way Holloway (20-3) describes it when, fresh off his exciting 145-pound title defense against Brian Ortega, he was approached by UFC for an opportunity to move up in weight to face Tony Ferguson for the interim lightweight title. 

Holloway, a native of Hawaii, signed and returned the contract almost instantaneously. But when it was returned to him in an email sent by UFC, the opponent's name had changed to Dustin Poirier after Ferguson turned the fight down. True to form, Holloway signed it a second time never looked back. 

On Saturday, the 27-year-old Holloway meets Poirier in a rematch of their 2012 bout in the main event of UFC 236 in Atlanta. And after a nearly disastrous 2018 in which Holloway's dare-to-be-great mentality nearly got him in trouble when injuries, difficult weight cuts and unresolved medical scares forced him to pull out of consecutive fights at the last minute, his hard-fought stoppage of Ortega quieted any lingering fears that his future was in jeopardy. 

Now it's back to the business of seeking the most dangerous challenge available for Holloway, who fancies himself -- right now -- as the best fighter in the sport and one of the best to ever do it. If that sounds bold, what motivates him is trying to prove to you that he's right. 

Listen to our interview with Max Holloway on the State of Combat with Brian Campbell podcast as he previews his title fight this weekend, and be sure to subscribe in the embed below. 

"What's going on here is history and your boy trying to put himself in the No. 1 pound-for-pound spot," Holloway said. "[When UFC offered an interim title shot,] I told them, 'Whatever it takes.' I guess it's a 50-50 fight so we are here for this fight and we will go from there."

Holloway's claim for being P4P best is certainly aided by his incredible 13-fight win streak, which includes finishes of Cub Swanson, Charles Olivera, Anthony Pettis, Jose Aldo (twice) and Ortega. 

But the fighter who calls himself "Blessed" hasn't forgotten how much 2018 threatened to ruin his best-laid plans for his legacy. He accepted a lightweight title shot on five days' notice against Khabib Nurmagomedov last April only to be medically pulled from the fight during a difficult weight cut. Three months later, he was forced out of a scheduled title defense against Ortega after slurring his speech in interviews and showing what was originally thought to be concussion symptoms yet was never medically resolved.   

"It's not how you start the race, it's how you finish. I've been telling people this," Holloway said. "You go through hard times but that's what champions do. They get knocked down and they come back. That's what I had to do. It was a tough time. I was fighting depression and this and that. 

"I learned a lot about myself in that time. It was a dark place but you have to remember you have to bless yourself. If anyone is going through something like that, don't forget to reach out to people. I'm blessed with great family, friends, fans and great people of the sport and even reporters who were reaching out to me. That meant a lot. Make sure to bless yourself and get out of it but there is always help around. Always make sure to ask for it."

Less than a year later, Holloway is ready to dive head first into the deep end of the most crowded and dangerous division in the sport. What his decision to face Poirier for the lightweight interim title means for his future at featherweight remains unsure.

"Right now, the 145-pound division has guys like Renato [Moicano], Alex [Volkanovski] and even Zabit [Magomedsharipov] but I think the UFC wants them to bake a little bit," Holloway said. "They only have one win in the top 10 between all of them. The UFC is trying to make them get more wins. At the end of the day, if UFC sends me a contract at 145 with me defending my belt, that's the one we would've taken, but they gave us this and with opportunities like this, we had to jump on it."

Not having to cut as much weight is certainly an attractive option for Holloway, who said his coaches and training partners have marveled at how much stronger he is as a lightweight. He's also well aware of how strong the options are at this division to get the kind of fights that solidify one's place in history, including the likes of Nurmagomedov, Ferguson, Conor McGregor, Nate Diaz and more. 

"Legacy fights, legacy fights. The belts are cool and everything but this is legacy," Holloway said. "I want something to leave behind that no one is going to take away from me and that's legacy. My goal was to be a UFC champion and I did that and now my next goal is to be the No. 1 pound-for-pound in the world and that's the next challenge."

One thing Holloway isn't looking to do, however, is simply just put on one fight-of-the-year contender after another, which is something he's often a candidate for considering his exciting style as a striker. Holloway believes a true P4P king is one who takes on great matchups and leaves his critics in awe about how easy he was able to win each fight.

Holloway also doesn't believe there is anything he, Poirier or anyone else can learn from going back to watch the tape of their first fight together seven years ago when a 20-year-old Holloway was making his UFC debut in just his fifth pro fight and Poirier secured a first-round submission. 

"We are two different animals," Holloway said. "Me, today, would body 20-year-old me. That guy would be put in a cemetery somewhere. For real, it's like night and day. That fight happened so fast that you can't take anything from it. Dustin grew, I grew and I can't wait to go out there and prove to the world that I'm the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter. I've got some new tricks up my sleeve for this one."

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