Max Holloway KNOCKS OUT Justin Gaethje in the final second of their BMF title fight at UFC 300
Max Holloway knocked out Justin Gaethje in the final second of their UFC 300 clash.
The former UFC featherweight king moved up to the 155lbs division to take on Gaethje in a BMF title clash in Las Vegas.
On Saturday evening, the pair played an instant classic in the T-Mobile Arena, where the confrontation between the eternal fan favorites more than fit the name BMF.
From the first round, Holloway used his boxing to control the match, investing early in hitting his opponent’s body.
As the opening frame reached its end, Holloway threw a spinning back that left a ducking Gaethje flushed in the nose, seemingly causing an instant break and putting him in danger for the rest of the fight.
The second round was blighted by a pair of eye pokes with Holloway being warned by referee Mark Goddard, but after the action resumed the Hawaiian started building up damage again with a variety of attacks.
Gaethje’s patented leg kicks remained a threat throughout, but Holloway’s weaponized pace seemed to drown the 35-year-old as he absorbed shots to the body and head.
In the fourth of the five scheduled rounds, Gaethje’s power finally shone through as he dropped Holloway to the canvas with a well-timed counter, but the former featherweight recovered immediately.
The fifth and final round was already a legendary showdown between two of the sport’s most beloved competitors and would take the status of the fight to a new level.
After coming close to his opponent’s finish several times, as the clapper sounded to signal that there were ten seconds left in the fight, Holloway motioned for Gaethje to join him in the center of the Octagon, as he so famously did with Ricardo Lamas in 2016.
The two fighters immediately began trading strikes and with just one second left, Holloway landed an inch-perfect right hand to immediately knock Gaethje unconscious.
Speaking after the fight, Joe Rogan called the finish the ‘greatest knockout of all time’ and Holloway gave props to his opponent as he called for a clash with incumbent featherweight king Ilia Topuria.
“Give it up for Gaethje, a real BMF,” he said. “He had nothing to gain and everything to lose. I’m him guys. El Matador runs away from the bull at the age of 145.
‘Even Islam [Makhachev]. I’m here, I’m here! Whatever weight, I’m a gladiator, let’s get it! I want 600k, that was Fight of the Night and finish of the night.”
