For a five-year stretch, Hawaiian Max Holloway looked almost unbeatable inside the UFC's Octagon.
A nine-fight win streak propelled the featherweight into his first championship opportunity in 2016 against former lightweight champion Anthony Pettis.
Holloway finished "Showtime '' in the third round to be crowned interim featherweight champion - a title he would unify seventh months later against one of the sports all-time greats - Jose Aldo.
"Blessed" would win a rematch against Aldo before stopping American submission expert Brian Ortega in December 2018.
That completed a 13-fight win streak for the 28-year-old that had some pundits labelling him the best pound-for-pound fighter on the planet.
But two losses in his last three fights has taken the shine off Holloway's MMA journey - but at UFC 251 on 'Fight Island', Hollaway has a chance to rewrite his script.
On Sunday, the former champion will have the opportunity to reclaim his UFC featherweight title when he rematches Australian Alexander Volkanovski in Abu Dhabi.
But that will be easier said than done. Volkanovski, who will be cornered by New Zealand's own MMA guru Eugene Bareman, dominated Holloway when he wrenched the title from his grasp last December.
But Holloway isn't easily phased - agreeing to fight in foreign territory, during a global pandemic, in arguably the biggest card in UFC history is testament to that.
And that's what has the fearless striker motivated to put on a show on Yas Island and make history on a history-making day.
"I’m happy," Holloway said."
"This is history. Nobody is going to take this away from me. I’m going to etch my name in the history books at the weekend.
"This is huge for sure. This is a big card
"Especially with all this pandemic coming on, it’s just insane that I get to be a part of this."
Hollaway wasn't too keen to share his gameplan for the rematch, only promising a different result.
Turning a near-complete five-round shut out won't be easy against a guy like Volkanovski, who has shown vast improvement every time he steps in the cage.
But it would take a brave man to back against the former champion from turning the result around and returning to the beaches of Hawaii with the title in hand.
"I like to think I’m a different breed," he said.
"I can fight with words if I want - but we get to find out at the end of the week who the better man is - so I am excited.
"I am going to go out there, do my thing and have fun. A wise man once said 'don’t leave it to the judges they only make you cry', so that’s in my mind.
"My mind says go out there and if it is a decision then it’s a decision again, but I want a finish. It’s been a while since I had a finish, so that would be good fun.
"However long the fight is, 25-minutes or one minute, if I can brighten your day, and take you away from everything that is happening in the world right now that would be a win – a big win.
“It’s just another fight for me. I can’t wait to go out there and do my thing. "It’s going to be something special. You won’t want to miss it.”
A win for Holloway would create another moment of UFC history.
No featherweight champion has regained the undisputed title after losing it.
