Max Holloway has explained many of his tattoos in a GQ tour, connecting them to his family, faith and life experiences. The collection includes angel-and-gargoyle wings across his back, an unfinished Polynesian chest piece, his surname on his stomach and tributes to his son.
Max Holloway’s back wings tattoo is about balance
Holloway’s second tattoo, done when he was 18, is a pair of wings stretching across most of his back. One side is angelic; the other has a darker gargoyle look. In the GQ tour, he called the contrast a yin-and-yang idea, representing balance between good and bad, light and dark. He said he wanted more balance and peace in his life. The session took about four hours, and he joked that he kept going despite the pain because he might not return to finish it.
His Polynesian chest tattoo tells a family story
Holloway describes his Polynesian chest piece as unfinished: he doesn’t want to close it off as if his story were over. In the GQ interview, he pointed out two small birds—one for himself and one for his son—and linked them to being blessed with safe travels. Plant-like shapes in the pattern represent health. The symbols sit within a wider design that he expects to keep developing.
The surname on his stomach was his first tattoo
Holloway got his surname tattooed across his stomach at 17; his mother had to sign for it. He told GQ he thought it looked cool and joked that he’d never misspell his name on a test. He remembered the placement as painful and laughed that his abs seemed to disappear whenever he tried to flex. The large curved lettering remains one of the simplest designs in a collection full of patterns and symbols.
RUSH tattoo honors his son on the inner bicep
RUSH is written in ornate letters on Holloway’s inner bicep, surrounded by clouds and rays. He described it in the GQ tour as his son’s name with the heavens above him, looking down. The red accents and dark outlines give the word a clear shape, while the sky imagery frames the tribute.
The arm patterns continue his evolving tattoo story
Holloway has described one arm as his Polynesian side and the other as his religious side; at the time of the interview, he was still planning more work, including scripture. A later inventory lists a Psalm 144 passage on an inner forearm and a street-name design with a number and lantern, a reference to home. Other religious pieces include a cross and light and dark doves. He connected his faith to how he was raised and the odds he felt he had overcome, adding that he wasn’t trying to push his beliefs on anyone else.
What ties the whole story together
In Holloway’s own account, the wings are about balance; the chest pattern carries family symbols and remains unfinished; his first tattoo is simply his surname. RUSH, the birds and the religious images add other parts of the same personal history. The designs use different styles, but each marks something he has chosen to remember. His GQ tattoo tour is below.
One thought on “Max Holloway Tattoos: Wings, Polynesian Ink and Family Tributes”