Max Holloway’s Amazing Buzzer-Beater KO Goes Viral

I have been watching MMA for over 30 years and covering the sport for over a decade.

In all my years of experience, I have never seen anything like Max Holloway’s KO win over Justin Gaethje in Saturday night’s BMF title fight at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas at UFC 300.

In case you missed it, check out the video the crowd posted The Athlete:

Here’s a post from FanDuel Sportsbook that captures the moment the TV audience enjoyed.

You can watch the clips above and soak up some of the glory of the moment from Holloway, but it takes full context to understand what the former featherweight champion accomplished on Saturday night.

Holloway dominated almost every moment of the scrap with Gaethje, except for the fact that he was dropped for the first time in his career in the fourth round by a hard right advantage.

When Holloway scored the explosive KO with just one second left in the fight, he was on his way to an easy unanimous decision win.

One judge inexplicably scored the fight even after the fourth round. However, Holloway had hurt Gaethje in the fifth round before the explosive finish.

It seems safe to assume that Holloway would have won the fight 49-46×2, 48-47, even if he hadn’t ended things so definitively.

Consider that Holloway didn’t need to engage in the nature of the BMF match to win, which makes his decision to stand on a dime and put Gaethje to sleep all the more impressive.

Here’s a look at some of the reactions from MMA fighters and others in the UFC community.

For further perspective, Gaethje is not just a lightweight who is comfortable at 155 pounds. He is a former interim lightweight champion who fought and beat the best in his division.

This is the guy Holloway finished with one of the most amazing KO finishes ever. For even more context, Holloway was only in his second fight at 155 pounds.

It didn’t just look solid. looked like he could easily challenge Islam Makhachev for the 155-pound crown. After losing three decisions to Alexander Volkanovski, some might have thought Holloway’s run as a top contender for the championship was over.

It’s not like that.

Arman Tsrukyan defeated Charles Oliveira in an exciting main card fight. He would seemingly have the inside track on a rematch with Makhachev for the lightweight title.

Perhaps that means Holloway will have to drop back down to 145 pounds to try to regain the title he lost to Volkanovski. Holway called out Elias Topuria during his post-fight interview.

Either way, Holloway’s performance may end up being the most memorable moment from the UFC’s biggest event in history.