Max Holloway reacts after Justin Gaethje isn’t credited with knockdown at UFC 300: “That’s some bullsh*t”

Max Holloway says it is “crazy’ that Justin Gaethje wasn’t credited with knocking him down in their BMF title fight at UFC 300.

Holloway (26-7 MMA) squared off with Gaethje (25-5 MMA) in a highly anticipated lightweight fight earlier this month at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Heading into the fight, ‘The Highlight’ had expressed his desire to become the first man to knockdown ‘Blessed’ in an MMA fight. Holloway had of course entered the contest having gone 32 professional fights without ever being knocked down from a strike.

Although Max Holloway thoroughly dominated Justin Gaethje before ultimately scoring one of the craziest knockouts in UFC history with one second left in the fifth and final round, there was a moment in round four that ‘The Highlight’ clipped ‘Blessed’ and forced him down to the canvas.

When the knockdown initially occurred, ‘X‘ was flooded by comments from fans and analysts acknowledging that Gaethje had just knocked down Holloway for the first time in his career. However, on the official stats sheet, ‘The Highlight’ was not credited with a knockdown and thus Holloway’s streak remains intact.

During his recent appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience, Max Holloway weighed in on the incident and said it was “crazy” that the UFC did not credit Justin Gaethje with what was an obvious knockdown.

“It didn’t count as a drop, which is crazy! ESPN is posting and saying like in however many fights I’m with the UFC, I still didn’t get dropped. That’s some bullsh*t. Give Justin that one. Like, I’ll take it, you know what I mean? But I wouldn’t be a man sitting here and telling you that he didn’t.”

Max Holloway continued (h/t MMAJunkie):

“Bro, I don’t even remember getting hit with that punch. And then I sat, and I came back up. I was like, ‘What the – what did he just hit me with?’ You know what I mean? I was like, ‘Holy sh*t!’ I was like, ‘That was a good punch.’

“Then when I rewatched it, he hit me like right on the top of my dome. I was like, ‘Holy smack, brother. This guy smacks.’ I was fine as soon as I got up, but it was one of those like, ‘Boom.’ The legs just give out. Like, I was still there, even when I was standing, I was looking at him. But I don’t know how that didn’t count as a drop. I don’t know what they count as a drop. … That was crazy.”

With his emphatic victory at UFC 300, Max Holloway is now positioned for a future title fight with current UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria. The Hawaiian and the Spaniard have gone back and forth over a potential fight, with ‘El Matador’ suggesting he will only accept the bout if Holloway puts his BMF title on the line.