Tag: UFC 300

‘That’s some bullsh*t’: Max Holloway believes Justin Gaethje deserves credit for first UFC career knockdown

BMF winner Max Holloway believes Justin Gaethje should be credited with first knockdown of his UFC career.

[autotag]Max Holloway[/autotag] has never been knocked down in his UFC career. That’s what the official fight stats say, anyway.

At UFC 300, Holloway (26-7 MMA, 22-7 UFC) was clipped clean by a punch from Justin Gaethje during the fourth round of their BMF title fight. The moment happened in a blink of an eye. Gatheje (25-5 MMA, 8-5 UFC) landed, Holloway hit the canvas and popped right back up to his feet, appearing no worse for wear. Apparently, the statistician thought Holloway slipped.

“It didn’t count as a drop, which is crazy,” Holloway said on the “JRE MMA Show”. “ESPN is posting and saying like in however many fights I’m with the UFC, I still didn’t get dropped. That’s some bullsh*t. Give Justin that one. Like, I’ll take it, you know what I mean? But I wouldn’t be a man sitting here and telling you that he didn’t.”

There was only one knockdown officially recorded by UFC Stats, which is the frontrunner for Knockout of the Year, when Holloway slept Gaethje with one second remaining in the fight. Joe Rogan dubbed it the greatest knockout of all time.

Obviously, there’s no debating how to score the fight-ending blow, but the shot that Gaethje did connect with in Round 4 clearly knocked Holloway off his feet. The point is somewhat moot, considering Holloway epically closed the show. However, since the former featherweight champ never hit the canvas in his previous 28 UFC bouts, it was a significant occurrence for Holloway’s career.

“Blessed” doesn’t appear bothered that the moment happened, but rather that Gaethje wasn’t given the proper credit for it. Holloway chalks it up to a solid strike from one of the most dangerous fighters in the game.

“Bro, I don’t even remember getting hit with that punch,” Holloway said. “And then I sat, and I came back up. I was like, ‘What the – what did he just hit me with?’ You know what I mean? I was like, ‘Holy sh*t!’ I was like, ‘That was a good punch.’

“Then when I rewatched it, he hit me like right on the top of my dome. I was like, ‘Holy smack, brother. This guy smacks.’ I was fine as soon as I got up, but it was one of those like, ‘Boom.’ The legs just give out. Like, I was still there, even when I was standing, I was looking at him. But I don’t know how that didn’t count as a drop. I don’t know what they count as a drop. … That was crazy.”

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Justin Gaethje plans to limit physical training for ‘six months at least’ after UFC 300 knockout loss

Justin Gaethje intends to take a cautious approach with his long-term health in mind coming out of UFC 300.

[autotag]Justin Gaethje[/autotag] will take some extended time off after UFC 300.

Gaethje (25-5 MMA, 8-5 UFC) was knocked out by Max Holloway (26-7 MMA, 22-7 UFC) in an iconic last-second finish less than two weeks ago in Las Vegas. The fighter in Gaethje is willing to compete again soon, but he knows it’s best to let his brain heal after being put out cold.

“Metaphorically I could be ready tomorrow, but physically I think, again, I want to take care of myself,” Gaethje said on “The MMA Hangout.” “I do think that repeated concussions, you know, with me going to sleep like that, me receiving that shot, it would be foolish for me to jump back into training anytime before 180 days. I could do cardio. I can stay in shape.

“That’s what I want to try to do. Especially the older I get, the harder it is to get back to the best shape of my life. So, I want to stay active, but obviously the physical contact is going to be limited for quite some time just because I want to preserve myself. I’ve been doing this for a long time. I think six months at least is before I get back to taking shots, but that doesn’t say that I won’t be training the whole time. We’ll see. It’s a crazy game, see how the Dustin (Poirier) and (Islam) Makhachev fight goes, crazy game.”

Gaethje also broke his nose at the end of Round 1 courtesy of a spinning back kick from Holloway. However, “The Highlight” says it didn’t impact his performance in the fight.

“The crazy thing was the last one second, neither one of my coaches that were coming into the cage saw it happen,” Gaethje said. “They were working their way into the cage. They got to get their sh*t together, get their bucket together, get their ice together. So, they didn’t see it happen.

“I sat down and coach was like, ‘What the hell happened? You broke your nose.’ I was feeling my nose. I was trying to see how crooked it was. That’s the first time I ever broke my nose in a fight. … I don’t think it did (affect my breathing). I mean, I felt really good in there. I felt amazing in there.”

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Mike Perry lauds Max Holloway for being in phenomenal shape compared to Justin Gaethje

Max Holloway put a lot of work into his physique heading into UFC 300, and Mike Perry noticed it.

[autotag]Max Holloway[/autotag] put a lot of work into his physique heading into UFC 300, and [autotag]Mike Perry[/autotag] noticed it.

Holloway bulked up into a lightweight frame for his BMF title fight against Justin Gaethje at UFC 300. The hard work paid off as Holloway (26-7 MMA, 22-7 UFC) was en route to winning an exciting battle before knocking out Gaethje in the last second of the fight.

Perry praised Holloway’s performance, but also questioned Gaethje’s physical shape for the fight.

“It wasn’t just the end of the fight,” Perry told MMA Junkie on Holloway’s win. “Max was performing all night in that ring. He did so good. The shape he was in looked phenomenal compared to Justin, who I thought was going to be bigger and stronger looking. He kind of looked out of shape. I mean, he went five rounds, but you look at Max’s physique vs. Justin’s, it couldn’t be compared.

“Max, like he had no body fat. You saw all his muscles, he was moving, he was fast, he was swift, sharp, slick. He was touching him up, and he just said it in the last second, ‘Bam, bam, bam.’ Oh my gosh, it was awesome. Definitely stole the night and then he gets $600K, got two bonuses when the bonuses were more than ever. Incredible stuff, man.”

Perry, who emerged as “The King of Violence” in bare-knuckle boxing, faces fellow ex-UFC fighter Thiago Alves in Saturday’s BKFC KnuckleMania 4 main event at Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.

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Max Holloway’s point-to-the-canvas UFC 300 moment was deja vu for Ricardo Lamas

You might have someone to thank you wouldn’t expect for that crazy Max Holloway vs. Justin Gaethje result at UFC 300.

If you’re among the masses who thinks the “BMF” title fight earlier this month was one of the greatest fights in history, you might have someone to thank you wouldn’t expect.

When [autotag]Max Holloway[/autotag] (26-7 MMA, 22-7 UFC) pointed to the canvas to invite Justin Gaethje (25-5 MMA, 8-5 UFC) to swing for the fences in the final 10 seconds at UFC 300, it set in motion what will go down as one of the most dramatic moments in MMA history. Holloway, who already was winning the five-round fight on the scorecards, connected with Gaethje and put him out cold – with one second left in their 25-minute fight.

That it was for the “BMF” title, and between a pair of fighters known for getting into proverbial wars, made it all the more perfect. But one of Holloway’s past opponents wants to flip through the history book for a moment.

When [autotag]Ricardo Lamas[/autotag] fought Holloway at UFC 199 nearly eight years ago, Holloway did the same thing. He was up on the scorecards, on his way to a sweep, and he pointed at the floor in the closing seconds and started slinging with Lamas. And that, Lamas says, laid the groundwork for the moment that will be etched in MMA history.

“I just want to say you’re welcome to everyone because I was the one that coaxed that moment out of Max Holloway,” Lamas recently told MMA Junkie Radio. “You can listen to Max talk about it. He actually did an interview with Demetrious Johnson, and even though he threw a little shade at me – but he said he loved me, so it’s OK; I love you, too, Max – he was saying that in the third round of our fight, I kept waving him in and waving him in. And then finally in the last 10 seconds, that’s why he decided to point to the ground and give me that chance to duke it out.

“But he made it seem like I did that because I didn’t think we were really fighting. I knew I was down on the scorecards. I knew I was losing that fight. And in my head, in the last half of that third round, I’m like, listen, only chance I’ve got right now is to kind of coax him into a brawl and hopefully I catch him with something, which is what he did to Gaethje. That’s what I was hoping for, but it didn’t work out.”

That win for Holloway was his ninth straight. It led him to an interim featherweight title fight with Anthony Pettis later in 2016, which he won. The next year, he unified the 145-pound title when he knocked out Jose Aldo, and when he beat him again in a rematch he became at the time arguably the best featherweight of all time.

And not that Lamas thinks Holloway wouldn’t have gotten there absent their closing 10 seconds in 2016, but he’s not sure why it doesn’t happen more often.

“We created that epic moment and it took – let’s see, that was 199, so it took 101 UFC pay-per-views to recreate it,” Lamas said. “But they finally did it, and he did the perfect ending to it. I couldn’t think of any better ending to a fight for the ‘BMF’ title than what happened.”

Lamas said a situation like the one he got into with Holloway led to an interesting sensation in the fight, as well.

“It’s definite tunnel vision,” he said. “I didn’t hear the crowd till after, like when we’re done in the end. The bell rang, the crowd kind of erupted, but it’s definitely tunnel vision and there’s not much going through my head except for, ‘I hope I don’t fall down and I hope my punch lands.’

“… I’ll be waiting patiently for my 10 percent finder’s fee for creating that moment with Max. So Max, if you need my address, just hit me up in the DMs and I’ll send it to you.”

Holloway won a Performance of the Night bonus, as well as Fight of the Night, at the historic UFC 300 – on a show at which the bonuses were raised to a symbolic $300,000 each instead of $50,000. His $600,000 in bonuses in one night took him well over the $1 million mark in bonus money in his UFC career.

Lamas had three bonuses in his UFC career, including one for a submission of future lightweight champion Charles Oliveira in his bounce-back from his loss to Holloway. Lamas retired after a 2020 win over Bill Algeo.

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Sean O’Malley reacts to Aljamain Sterling’s UFC 300 win: ‘I saved the bantamweight division’

Sean O’Malley didn’t find Aljamain Sterling’s featherweight debut too entertaining.

[autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag] didn’t find [autotag]Aljamain Sterling[/autotag]’s featherweight debut too entertaining.

Sterling (24-4 MMA, 16-4 UFC) scored a shutout of Calvin Kattar (23-8 MMA, 7-6 UFC) at UFC 300, where he stifled him with his grappling. The former bantamweight champion, who lost his title to O’Malley by knockout, showed that his power translated well to 145 pounds.

Bantamweight champion O’Malley (18-1 MMA, 10-1 UFC) took a shot at Sterling’s performance.

“‘Aljo’ looked good – he made Calvin look bad,” O’Malley said on his YouTube channel. “I think it was three times, three different times, the crowd was booing. (Sterling was) just taking him down, holding him down and just holding him there, which, I mean, that’s just his style. You know, I saved the bantamweight division – that’s what I was about to say.”

However, O’Malley acknowledged that big things are on the horizon for Sterling, who called out Brian Ortega after his win. Sterling also mentioned Movsar Evloev, who reciprocated the interest.

O’Malley agrees with that idea.

“But who do you go next? If you would have went out there and finished Calvin in impressive fashion, then I’m like, ‘Damn, you could get a big fight,'” O’Malley said. “But after that – still, regardless whether people love him or hate him, Aljo is somewhat of a star and he gets a bigger fight after that.

“Calvin is on a three-fight losing streak. He’s a little bit older. You win a boring decision, who do you give Aljo now in the featherweight division? What about Diego Lopes? They’ll probably give him Movsar (Evloev).”

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Aljamain Sterling: I had ‘the most dominant fight’ on UFC 300

Aljamain Sterling labels his performance at UFC 300 as the most dominant.

[autotag]Aljamain Sterling[/autotag] labels his performance at UFC 300 as the most dominant.

Sterling (24-4 MMA, 16-4 UFC) outgrappled Calvin Kattar (23-8 MMA, 7-6 UFC) en route to a lopsided unanimous decision win, making good on his featherweight debut.

Kattar only landed 19 total strikes in the fight, was taken down eight times, and was controlled for over 10 minutes.

“Don’t get me wrong – our fight on that particular night of UFC 300 was not the most entertaining, but it was the most dominant fight I think you could have possibly looked at from the entire card from top to bottom,” Sterling said on his YouTube channel.

“I think I’m arguably the top three most dominant on that entire fight card. So when you look at that, I think to keep it in perspective is you’ve got a guy who’s on average, lands, I think, about four or five strikes per minute, like significant strikes, who was reduced to about 0.5 or something like that over 15 minutes.”

The former bantamweight champion is aware his fight may have not been the most crowd pleasing, but says shutting out Kattar’s striking game entirely has to account for something.

“(Kattar is) a guy who went tooth and nail with (Max Holloway), a guy that went toe-to-toe with Giga Chikadze, arguably won against Josh Emmett, had a great performance against a guy who’s knocking guys out left to right in Dan Ige, knocked out Shane Burgos, (beat) Andre Fili,” Sterling said.

“His resume of how dangerous he is goes on and on and on. So for me to use my skill set against his and to reduce him from being someone who’s that dangerous to literally no threat whatsoever. I think it deserves a little bit of credit in that regard.”

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UFC 300 ‘Fight Motion’: Watch super slow-mo highlights of historic card, including Max Holloway’s knockout

UFC has published some amazing super slow-motion highlights from UFC 300, including Max Holloway’s insane KO of Justin Gaethje.

It’s been a little more than a week since UFC 300, but the memories of one of the greatest nights in company history still resonate strongly.

The momentous fight card for the leading MMA promotion played out like a fairy tale. From statement performances to thrilling comebacks and an all-time knockout from Max Holloway against Justin Gaethje to claim the BMF title, UFC 300 will stand the test of time.

If you’re keen to put yourself back into the moment, the UFC has released a video of slow-motion highlights from every bout on the card at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Check out the video above to watch UFC 300 “Fight Motion.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 300.

T.J. Dillashaw was rooting for ex-rival Cody Garbrandt at UFC 300: ‘I hate to see a fighter lose his confidence’

Despite their history, T.J. Dillashaw was hoping Cody Garbrandt would get his hand raised at UFC 300.

Despite their history, [autotag]T.J. Dillashaw[/autotag] was hoping [autotag]Cody Garbrandt[/autotag] would get his hand raised at UFC 300.

Garbrandt (14-6 MMA, 9-6 UFC) was submitted by Deiveson Figueiredo (23-3-1 MMA, 12-3-1 UFC) in Round 2 of their bantamweight bout this past Saturday at T-Mobile Arena.

Dillashaw thought Garbrandt was capable of winning, and went as far as praising his former rival.

“I thought Garbrandt was going to get the win,” Dillashaw said on the “JAXXON PODCAST.” “I think he’s the all-around better athlete. They both have power – we know that going into the fight. Figueiredo’s got power at ’25s, but it’s translated and we’ve seen it at ’35s, as well. Garbrandt’s got power – he’s just so fast. He’s like the fastest person I’ve ever trained with, fought against – insanely fast. His fast twitch is crazy.

“I thought that he’d get the win. I was hoping he’d get the win, I was actually rooting for him, even with all the bullsh*t drama going on between him and us fighting each other. I was rooting for him. I hate to see a fighter lose his confidence because when you lose your confidence, your skills go downhill. If you’re not going to believe in yourself when you get in there, then you’re not going to be able to do what you can do to the fullest.”

Dillashaw knocked out Garbrandt in back-to-back title fights at UFC 217 and UFC 227. The former bantamweight champion says Garbrandt’s chin has since deteriorated, which made him more tentative while fighting.

“He unfortunately doesn’t have a chin anymore,” Dillashaw said. “People have seen that. He can get cracked, and he’s gotten knocked out after I beat him. He got knocked out a few more times, so everyone was ridiculing him for getting knocked out and for being overly aggressive, not having good defense. Now they want to hate him for being too defensive.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 300.

MMA promotion adds bonus inspired by Max Holloway’s UFC 300 knockout, and it’s pretty wild

The “Max Point Throwdown” bonus might just be the perfect (but also wild) way to incentive maximum violence.

A Dutch MMA promotion might’ve just figured out a perfect (but also wild) way to incentive maximum violence thanks to former UFC featherweight champion [autotag]Max Holloway[/autotag].

Inspired by Holloway’s iconic knockout of Justin Gaethje last Saturday at UFC 300, Levels Fight League of the Netherlands announced Thursday that it has implemented what it’s calling the “Max Point Throwdown” bonus, and it’s exactly what it sounds like.

If combatants in a LFL fight “initiate by pointing to the center of the ring” and then “initiate the exchange, putting it all in the line,” they will be eligible to claim a share of a $5,000 bonus pot.

“We discussed allocating ($5,000) between five fights, so up to $1K a fight if it happens each fight, and we’ll re-assess,” an LFL representative told Jamie Theodosi of Bloody Elbow. “But honestly we will judge on a fight-by-fight basis. If it brings us moments like these, we are happy to reward the fighters with more.”

Comfortably up three rounds to one (and about to win the fifth) at UFC 300, Holloway pointed to the center of the octagon as the 10-second clapper sounded and took the risk to engage in a wild brawl before putting Gaethje to sleep with one vicious punch to claim the BMF title.

The all-time badass sequence is why LFL was inspired to do this.

“We were already huge fans of Max Holloway, and after that fight we wanted to do something in his honor,” the LFL rep said. “Sure, he’s UFC, we’re LFL – but this sport is global, and we’re still fans at the end of the day, so why not? No one else is doing it.”

Who knows? Maybe this crazy idea works exactly how LFL is hoping, and we start posting about highlights of insane knockouts happening in their organization.

In the famous words of Dana White, we’ll see how this thing plays out.

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Henry Cejudo: Bo Nickal needs to hold his horses, ‘maybe 10 fights away from possibly becoming UFC champion’

Henry Cejudo doesn’t think Bo Nickal is quite ready for the top after UFC 300.

[autotag]Henry Cejudo[/autotag] doesn’t think [autotag]Bo Nickal[/autotag] is quite ready for the top after UFC 300.

Nickal (6-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) remained unbeaten when he submitted Cody Brundage (10-6 MMA, 4-5 UFC) in Round 2 of Saturday’s main card opener at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Nickal gave himself two thumbs down for his performance, but Cejudo still sees championship potential in the standout wrestler – just not right now.

“Don’t put that pressure on you, if you’re disappointed in your performance, because quite honestly, I do believe you could be a future champ at 185 pounds – but you are not ready for the top 10,” Cejudo said on his “Pound 4 Pound” podcast with Kamaru Usman. “If they put you up against big bodies like Marvin Vettori, who have good jiu-jitsu, big dudes and could also wrestle – even a guy like Paulo ‘Borrachinha’ (Costa) … I mean, he’s not quite ready for that top 10.

“I think at 185 pounds, he needs to go three rounds. He needs to understand that threshold because still him winning and beating these guys super early, if you want to be champion, how is it going to feel when you actually go five rounds against guys like Sean Strickland, Paulo ‘Borrachinha,’ Robert Whittaker, Jared Cannonier? That weight class is absolutely stacked. I think he needs to hold his horses. I think he’s still maybe 10 fights away from possibly becoming UFC champion.”

Nickal called out Anthony Hernandez, who’s on a five-fight winning streak and ranked No. 12 in the UFC’s middleweight rankings. He is scheduled to face Roman Dolidze at UFC 302 on June 1.

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 300.