Until Max Holloway shocked the world with a last-second knockout of Justin Gaethje, he was a UFC 300 underdog.
“Brother, I was counted out,” he said at the post-fight press conference for Saturday’s event. “People were telling me, ‘What are you doing, Justin’s too big, too strong,’ just a lot of stuff. People needed to get reminded, and I let them know. I was telling people all week, ‘I’m him. I’m here,’ and you guys need a reminder.”
Holloway gave them one, and then some. Reaction to his knockout quickly filled the social media feeds of MMA fans around the world. Among them were several of his colleagues cageside at T-Mobile Arena – and the man who thrice beat him, former UFC featherweight champ Alexander Volkanovski.
Volkanovski perfectly embodied the journey Holloway took fans on in the final 10 seconds of the five-round BMF title fight. Until that point, the action appeared to be cruising well toward a decision that Holloway would easily win. Gaethje had been ordered by his corner to apply more pressure. But Holloway had broken his opponent’s momentum and was well on his way to becoming the third BMF champ.
Clearly, that wasn’t enough. Holloway pointed to the canvas and implored Gaethje to slug it out, just as he did nearly eight years earlier against Ricardo Lamas at UFC 199. By his next fight, Holloway had captured his first UFC belt, an interim featherweight title.
The potential upside of a last-second slugfest went entirely to Gaethje. Yet Holloway still decided to sling it out, he said, because he felt the favor would have been returned.
“If that’s not a BMF moment, I don’t know what is,” Holloway said. “If the cards were flipped and Justin was up … I knew he would give me that 10-second shot.”
The logical question after UFC 300 is, will anyone oblige Holloway in center octagon again?
“I hope so,” he said. “If you want to be a man, if you want to be great, that’s what great fighters do. Everybody thought I was lying when I said I was a gladiator. I ain’t lying. Any weight, whoever, whatever, anyone can get it.”
After such a result, the list of options facing Holloway is long and varied. As the man of the hour – and potentially the year – he could fight at featherweight or lightweight against a vareity of top-tier opponents. Even featherweight champ Ilia Topuria broke from his earlier position, when he advised Holloway and other 145-pound vets to retire because he wouldn’t give them title shots.
With an immediate lightweight title shot off the table – UFC CEO Dana White confirmed Dustin Poirier is set to face Islam Makhachev at UFC 302 – the idea of a return to 145 pounds didn’t sound bad to Holloway.
“I’ve got options, it feels great,” he said. “Dana’s happy, [UFC COO Hunter Campell is] happy, [UFC matchmaker] Sean Shelby’s happy. We’re going to sit down with the team and figure it out. I saw they just announced the [lightweight title fight], so it looks like he’s finally defending against a ‘55er, which is good on him.
“Like I said, there’s ‘El Matador,’ he’s doing everything in his will to try to escape the bull in the pen, so I’m here.”
Holloway has already renamed the belt “Blessed Man Forever,” and that’s an apt name considering his incredible, career-defining moment.
“This is the type of stuff you do to etch your name in the history books, and I’m just happy that I was the one landing,” he said. “I was getting hurt by the wind of [Gaethje’s] shots … that’s how hard he hits.”
“It was just a huge moment for me, being blessed enough to be in there, being at UFC 300, having this event, this event is going to be talked about for ages,” he added later. “I don’t know what card is going to have 12 or more champions on top of it. We might have to wait for UFC 400, and that’s a ways away.”