Holloway lands a great direct shot in the last second of the fight to beat Gaethje, at UFC 300
Reuters / Mark J. Rebilas
In the early hours of this Sunday (14), in Las Vegas, in the United States, with the symbolic BMF (Baddest Mother F*cker) belt, created in 2019 by Dana White for the fight between Jorge Masvidal and Nate Diaz, Max Holloway knocked out Justin Gaethje in the last second of the fifth round in an epic duel at UFC 300, valid in the lightweight category.
The balanced first round, but with Holloway connecting more significant blows, ended with him landing a beautiful spinning kick that caught Gaethje’s nose. The powerful blow caused the affected area to open immediately and begin to bleed profusely, appearing to be seriously injured and perhaps even broken.
With a large wound on his face, Justin entered the second round, protecting the region more and focusing on low kicks. Two involuntary “fingerprints” on Gaethje’s eyes also caught the attention of the T-Mobile Arena, which cheered a lot when the moves appeared on the screens. The judge stopped the fight on both occasions, but Max did not lose points.
In the third round, the “Highlight Man” almost suffered a knockdown after receiving a strong sequence of punches from Holloway, who returned to the fight better after the first 10 minutes. The fourth round was another massacre by “Blessed”, who continued to punish in the stand-up fight with good connections. The hard chin and heavy hand of Gaethje’s counterattack prevented the fight from ending early and, in fact, all this strength shook Max in the last minutes.
The fifth round of this incredible battle was frank striking. In the last seconds, both met in the center of the octagon for a final dispute and, amidst many blows flying everywhere, Max Holloway landed an impressive right cross in the last second, completely “turning off” Gaethje, who fell unconscious.
With the result, in addition to winning the belt that belonged to Justin Gaethje, “Blessed” tied for 4th as the fighter with the most victories in UFC history, with 22 triumphs. In total, there are 26 wins and 7 losses. After the fight, in the interview inside the octagon, he took the opportunity to challenge Ilia Topuria, champion of the featherweight category.
UFC Vegas 91
On April 27th, the Apex Arena will host UFC Vegas 91, with a card full of Brazilians and with Matheus Nicolau, number five flyweight, in the main fight against North American Alex Perez. Ketlen Souza, Caio Machado and Rani Yahya will also represent Brazil in Las Vegas, as will flyweight contenders Ariane Lipski and Karine Silva, who will duel in the second fight of the night.