After UFC 300, Max Holloway is not only in prime position to face Ilia Topuria for the featherweight title but also Islam Makhachev for the lightweight belt.
Dubbed by many within the MMA community to be the greatest finish in UFC history, Max Holloway’s jaw-dropping knockout of Justin Gaethje in Las Vegas has set ‘Blessed’ up for not one, but two world title shots.
Max Holloway has two title doors open following last-second KO
Max Holloway put on a masterclass throughout all five rounds of his BMF title fight against Justin Gaethje at UFC 300 but still refused to go to the judges’ scorecards as he delivered a truly breathtaking KO with just one singular second left on the clock.
Speaking to Joe Rogan during his post-fight interview, Holloway took the opportunity to call out both Ilia Topuria, who was spotted looking decidedly nervous in the front row, and lightweight champion Islam Makhachev; given that he had just flatlined the number one contender at 155lbs.
“All I’ve got to say is that I’m him, I’m him guys! There’s an El Matador [and] he’s running away from a bull at 145lbs – tell him to sign the contract! Spain, Hawaii, wherever!” Even Islam, Islam is famous for defending against 45ers right? I’m him, I’m right here!”
Topuria responded by claiming he’ll be the first UFC fighter to knockout Max Holloway in the octagon.
Sean O’Malley offers Max Holloway advice on what’s next after UFC 300
With title fight doors open at both featherweight and lightweight, Max Holloway has a fascinatingly difficult decision to make about whether he should stay at 155lbs or drop back down to his more natural weight class of 145lbs, at least for his immediate future.
It’s a choice that almost every top UFC fighter will face at least once in their career, and one man who has already been in the news in 2024 for considering that exact move is bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley.
O’Malley called for a shot at Ilia Topuria’s featherweight belt and infamous champ-champ status following his decision victory over Marlon Vera earlier in the year, and speaking via his official YouTube channel, ‘Suga’ offered his take on what should be next for Holloway:
“I think Max should stay at 155lbs instead of going back down to 145lbs. Like dude, you just pieced up and knocked out Justin Gaethje at 155lbs – what’s [even] the point of going to 145lbs [now]?”
“Justin’s the number two and Holloway just knocked him out,” said the bantamweight champion, before arguing that the only fight that makes sense for Holloway is the lightweight title shot:
“Justin Gaethje vs Max Holloway – that was the craziest moment in UFC history… Max vs Islam, f*** it. I mean you could [make that fight next] … He has the frame [for lightweight] like he’s a big guy.”
On the finishing sequence, O’Malley also noted “That is literally what I wanted to do to Chito [Vera] in the last 10 seconds, it obviously didn’t work out that way but that was f***** legendary.”
Holloway wasn’t the only UFC 300 fighter who impressed in a new division
Max Holloway wasn’t the only UFC 300 star who was moving out of his more natural weight class into a new division, with O’Malley’s former rival Aljamain Sterling also making a big-money move from bantamweight to featherweight.
“Aljamain looked good, and he made Calvin [Kattar] look bad,” said O’Malley, who also noted that Sterling looked “huge” as he had filled out into his frame.
“But who do you go with next? If he would have went out there and finished Calvin in impressive fashion then I’m like ‘damn you could get a big fight’ but after that? Still regardless of whether people love him or hate him, Aljamain is somewhat of a star and he gets a bigger fight after that.”
There were two names that O’Malley threw out as potential next opponents for Sterling: Diego Lopes, who earned himself a fantastic KO win over Sodiq Yusuff earlier in the card, and top contender Movsar Evloev:
“Calvin was on a three-fight losing streak and he was a little bit older; you win a boring decision and who do you give Aljamain now in the featherweight division? What about Diego Lopes? Ooh they’ll probably give him Movsar [Evloev], they’ll probably give him that guy.”
Sterling himself called out Brian Ortega in his post-fight interview, with T-City coming off a major victory over Yair Rodriguez earlier this year.