The pride of Hawaii is now the BMF champ of the UFC. Max Holloway dethroned Justin Gaethje on Saturday night at UFC 300 to win the BMF title via thrilling knockout in the very last second of the fifth round.
The bout for the symbolic title was jam-packed with action from the opening round to the literal last second. After 24 minutes and 50 seconds of thrilling exchanges, Holloway pointed at the center of the mat and told Gaethje to bring it.
Seconds later, Holloway smashed him with an overhand right to send Gaethje faceplanting into the mat.
“I’m him,” Holloway screamed afterward.
Joe Rogan called it the greatest knockout of all time.
THE BADDEST MOTHERF****R 😮💨 @BlessedMMA | #UFC300 pic.twitter.com/WHtaTOmniw
— UFC (@ufc) April 14, 2024
All that momentum began 20 minutes earlier with a spinning heel kick in the final second of the first round that badly injured Gaethje’s nose.
The leaking nose bothered Gaethje the rest of the fight, and Holloway never slowed down. Holloway’s third round was particularly sharp, hitting Gaethje with repeated combos and drilling another spinning kick.
Battling through Gaethje’s repeated heavy calf kicks, Holloway also displayed elite defense all fight. He deftly avoided Gaethje’s power shots and countered his pressure with straights that sent Gaethje recoiling and touching at his injured nose.
But despite a one-sided first 15 minutes, Gaethje battled back in the fourth round to knock Holloway down, the first time he ever hit the canvas. Holloway survived the power onslaught and bounced back with more flurries in the fifth round.
Holloway moved up from featherweight to lightweight to take on Gaethje at the landmark UFC event, Holloway’s second career fight in the weight class.
Despite the success against a top contender at lightweight, Holloway previously told The Athletic he has unfinished business at featherweight, where he once held the division’s title for 925 days. But after dropping the title to Alexander Volkanovski and losing two other times to Volkanovski in efforts to reclaim the belt, Holloway’s career was at a crossroads.
However, after Ilia Topuria took the featherweight belt from Volkanovski at UFC 298, the division has been reopened and Holloway’s title hopes rekindled. Holloway told The Athletic he plans on being in line for a shot at the featherweight title after Topuria and Volkanovski have their rematch.
In the main event, Alex Pereira flattened Jamahal Hill with a highlight-reel knockout that would’ve been remembered as Knockout of the Night on any other card.
Hill’s title challenge lasted less than four minutes before the light heavyweight champion continued his reign behind his signature weapon: the left hook that has brought Pereira decades of success. The clinching hook came seconds after Pereira waved off referee Herb Dean, who stepped in to check on what appeared to have been a low blow kick by Hill.
Low blow or not, Pereira closed the show with a bang.
The title defense was Pereira’s first since winning the belt at UFC 295 by defeating Jiří Procházka in just Pereira’s second fight at light heavyweight.
Pereira’s win Saturday improves his career record to 10-2 and 6-1 in the UFC. Six of those now seven wins have come against current or former champions.
After his win, Pereira said he’d be interested in fight in Brazil someday, and then went on to mention a potential future fight at heavyweight. The UFC will be heading to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for UFC 301 on May 4, and heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall is currently without a next opponent.
Pereira previously told The Athletic he has no plans on returning to middleweight for another bout with Israel Adesanya, but would welcome his old rival to a bout at light heavyweight.
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