UFC 300 felt like a momentous occasion for the sheer fact that it’s such a round, even number that highlights how MMA has exploded with Dana White at the helm.
Although announcing Conor McGregor’s return to the Octagon was no doubt a highlight of White’s post-fight press conference, nothing was better than hearing him freak out about the last-second knockout that will long be remembered as one of the best ever.
White weighed in on Max Holloway’s furious flurry of punches that sent Justin Gaethje to the canvas as time expired at T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada.
Tracking down clean UFC highlights in real time can be elusive, but White was eager to get this one up on his personal feed, as was UFC’s official social media handler.
Just an outstanding job by Holloway here. You literally could not write a better script. Even if Holloway was already going to win the fight before the end, to have such an unambiguous, no-doubt knockout with the final bell sounding is one of the most mind-blowing feats I’ve ever seen in all of sports. When was the last time you saw a literal buzzer beater in any sort of combat sport? No bout springs to mind.
Holloway’s victory means he steals away the BMF belt from Gaethje, with “BMF” standing for “Baddest Motherf****r” in the game. It’s not a real title, but it’s pretty sweet nevertheless. Gimmicky, glorified exhibition boxing matches — such as the upcoming Mike Tyson-Jake Paul Netflix tilt — have a disingenuous and/or seemingly scripted quality to them.
The BMF title is a badass bragging right incentive that has more than delivered, despite its absence of official title-dom. For Holloway and Gaethje to slug it out for five rounds, and have a sort of stakes-proof safety net to throw ridiculous haymakers at each other right at the end, is something you just won’t see anywhere else in any other form of fighting. The fact that BMF carries so much prestige shows how White continues to break new ground, and yes, deliver “holy sh*t moments” on par with any other sports league.
Gaethje entered as a rather heavy favorite (I saw his moneyline odds around -160), so that only adds to the hype around Holloway’s triumph. You can hear from the winner himself below as he sounds off about what ran through his mind toward the end of the fifth round.
PS, McGregor will fight Michael Chandler at UFC 303 in June.
