Shocked Ilia Topuria reacts as Max Holloway scores one of the greatest KOs of all time against Justin Gaethje

UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria, was in attendance for UFC 300, as Max Holloway scored one of the greatest knockouts of all time against Justin Gaethje.

Coming into the fight, it was only Max Holloway‘s second UFC fight at lightweight, with his first coming against Dustin Poirier five years ago to the day.

Justin Gaethje, on the other hand, was coming in off the back of his ‘BMF’ title win against ‘The Diamond’ back in July. After the lightweight champion, Islam Makhachev admitted he wasn’t going to fight until at least June, Gaethje decided to take a fight in the meantime.

Max Holloway scores one of the greatest KOs of all time, with 2 seconds left

‘Blessed’ looked in far better shape than five years ago, looking like he had put on a lot of muscle mass for his fight against Gaethje.

Despite that, the 32-year-old looked as fast as he always does and the first five minutes painted a promising picture for the former featherweight champion. Holloway looked sharp through the first round, as Gaethje struggled to land anything of significance, outside of his patented calf kicks.

At the end of round one, Holloway landed a huge spinning back kick to the nose of Gaethje, instantly breaking it as blood leaked out.

Round two was a similar story as Holloway grew in confidence and continued to control the pace of the fight. The Hawaiian’s jab was on point as he seemingly couldn’t miss the crushed nose of ‘The Highlight’. Holloway’s success continued through to round three where he once again got the better of the exchanges.

Heading into round four, Trevor Wittman – Justin Gaethje’s head coach – told his fighter that he needed to go out there and score a finish. With that, the 35-year-old came out in round four and did well to disrupt the rhythm of Holloway, and he even scored himself a knockdown – the first Holloway has suffered in his career.

The final round came around and Holloway was ahead on two of the judge’s scorecards, with the opposing judge having it split 2-2 going into the final five minutes.

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None of that mattered though as after coasting through the final round, with 10 seconds left, Holloway pointed to the center of the Octagon where Justin Gaethje followed.

In true ‘BMF’ fashion, Max Holloway bit down on the mouthpiece and began throwing relentlessly. With just two seconds left, he connected with a right hook as Gaethje’s lights turned out, faceplanting the canvas.

Ilia Topuria reacts cageside following the buzzer-beater KO

Featherweight champion, Ilia Topuria stood in shock, as Max Holloway ran away in celebration after scoring one of the greatest knockouts of all time.

The UFC fanbase was quick to comment on Topuria’s reaction with the large majority stating that he looks ‘worried’.

@Octagonobsessed commented on X: “Ilia Topuriaa looked worried.”

It is unclear whether Holloway will decide to move back down to featherweight to challenge Ilia Topuria for the 145lb title, or if he will stick at lightweight and possibly wait for a title shot.

‘El Matador’ has been campaigning for a title defense in Spain, but before tonight, there has been no clear contender to fight the champion.

Jon Jones also commented on ‘Blessed’ Holloway’s knockout, saying: “Enjoy that 300k Max”. Prior to the event, Dana White announced he was upping the post-fight bonuses to $300,000, from the original $50,000.

UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev also commented saying: “Justin (Gaethje) is a warrior, keep your head up champ. Spectacular performance by Max, congrats.”

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