Former featherweight champion Max ‘Blessed’ Holloway is set to return to the octagon this weekend in the main event of UFC 308, six months after his iconic last-second knockout of Justin Gaethje to claim the BMF title.
The viral finish, which ‘Blessed’ scored 4 minutes and 59 seconds into the fifth round, has been etched into the minds of millions of UFC fans around the world – but what was going through Max Holloway’s mind in those crucial final moments?
Max Holloway reveals what he was thinking before iconic last-second KO
Before jumping into the insanity that was Holloway’s last-second knockout at UFC 300, a quick reminder that ‘Blessed’ entered the BMF title fight as the betting underdog, having only fought once at 155lbs before; a decision loss to Dustin Poirier for the then-vacant title.
Despite his underdog status, Holloway proved once again why he’s considered to be one of the best strikers in the UFC as he battered Justin Gaethje over the course of 24 minutes and 59 seconds – landing 181 significant strikes to The Highlight’s 103.
“I felt good from the first round man,” Holloway reminisced on UFC 308: Countdown ahead of his featherweight title fight against Ilia Topuria on October 26 in Abu Dhabi.
“I remember landing that spinning back kick at the end of the round, saw him almost fall out of the cage and I was like ‘Oh wow, that must have hurt’… In the second round, I heard his coach yelling ‘Don’t blow out of your nose’ and I was like ‘Wow, his nose really is broken.’
“I felt like I was in control for the whole fight,” stated the veteran Hawaiian, explaining how “I felt like anything that I could do was working and it felt awesome.” And then came the shot that stopped the world.
With just 10 seconds to go in a fight that he was winning on two of the judges’ scorecards (Junichiro Kamijo had it 2-2 going into the fifth), Holloway decided to point to the middle of the octagon for one final shootout.
“The last 10 seconds, it came to the finish – a lot of people say, ‘Why would you do that against one of the most dangerous 155ers who can put your lights out, you were up four rounds?!’
“Because Justin Gaethje is a stand-up guy. And if the roles were reversed, I think he would’ve given me that shot. He gave me the opportunity to fight for the BMF belt and I figured I’d give him the opportunity, with the way that the fight was going, to retain it.”
The notion that Holloway’s iconic point was simply him giving Gaethje one last chance to retain his BMF title, is the exact reason why ‘Blessed’ deserves to hold that silver-plated strap: “It was all guns blazing and to do that against him, the bogeyman of 155, it was just icing on the cake.”
In a separate interview with David Adesanya, brother of superstar Israel Adesanya, Holloway would reveal how he knew that his final punch would land flush on Gaethje’s exposed chin.
“I just wanted to close the distance, if you see it – I go body, body, I put my head right to his chest, like right under his chin and I knew that if this is where my head is, I’m going to bring over the right hand… If it lands, it lands, and it did – it was quite a moment.”
A moment that will live long in the memory of those of us lucky enough to have watched the fight live, with Holloway himself describing the feeling as akin to an out-of-body experience.
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“I think it was an out-of-body moment, I think the couple of seconds before; I [already] knew everything leading up to it… When I finally heard that clap for 10 seconds [left], I went to the center, welcomed Gaethje and yeah, that was an out-of-body experience after I landed that [punch].”
Can Holloway repeat his UFC 300 dramatics this weekend against ‘El Matador’ – find out this weekend at UFC 308.