SUMMARY
- Max Holloway knocked out Justin Gaethje in a stunning fashion at UFC 300.
- However, Holloway's lightweight ranking after the bout has angered some MMA fans.
Max Holloway has become an overnight sensation after UFC 300. While he is one of the greatest featherweight fighters of all time with 3 title defenses, Holloway’s KO of Justin Gaethje has propelled him into mega-stardom! Usually, UFC does not share the footage of KOs or submissions officially until much later. However, the company decided to release the footage right away and it has generated millions of views all over social media.
During the UFC 300 post-fight press conference, Dana White also seemed ecstatic about the fight and it earned Holloway a combined $600,000 in bonuses on top of his fight purse. However, now that the dust has settled, UFC has officially released the brand new rankings on the Tuesday after the event. Interestingly, Max Holloway, the BMF Champion, has found himself in the 8th place in pound-for-pound rankings.
But, not only that, he has also broken into the lightweight rankings too! Since he fought Justin Gaethje, a lightweight fighter, it makes sense that he is ranked in the 155lbs division at present. At lightweight, Holloway is currently ranked at 9th. The Hawaiian fighter has also retained his featherweight rankings as he is in the 2nd place. However, his lightweight ranking has become a topic of discussion.
Fans are unhappy as Max Holloway is ranked behind Justin Gaethje after UFC 300
After the rankings came out, an MMA fan made an interesting observation on social media. The post read, “I know I might just be seeing things but I think this is a screenshot I took of the official UFC rankings showing that Holloway has moved up to no.8 P4P but yet only was put at no.9 at 155. 6 positions below Gaethje who he just left face first at 155? @ufc @danawhite FIX IT NOW!”
Justin Gaethje is currently ranked 3rd in the lightweight division after UFC 300. Prior to that, he was on 2nd while Charles Oliveira occupied the first ranking. After Arman Tsarukyan’s win over Oliveira, he has moved into the first place. However, many fans can’t believe the difference between Justin’s and Max’s rankings. But there is also a counterargument from fans about why it was the right call.
Here are some fan reactions on the matter
Max Holloway ain’t even active enough to maintain his rankings in both divisions what does it even matter?
— Pacific Noble (@pacific_noble) April 18, 2024
He should be #2 at FW and #3 at LW lol
— Genius Oklahoma Fan (@sooners_network) April 18, 2024
I don’t understand it. Aljo beat the number eight ranked guy, Aljo is now ranked #8. Max beat the number two guy. He should be ranked #2.
— ReckPA (@ReckPA) April 18, 2024
Max should be ranked above Gaethje 100%
— Young (@myg1298) April 18, 2024
Ok its not his primary division, hes not even the #1 guy in his main weightclass, fair for someone whos now 1-1 at LW. Recency bias
— TheThinkerMMA (@TheThinkerMMA) April 18, 2024
Fans do have a point on this matter as Max should have a better ranking in the lightweight division. Ideally, he should have surpassed Gaethje to have a place in the top 5 of the division. The KO win certainly warranted a better position in the division.
However, in his last 155lbs bout against Dustin Poirier at UFC 236, Holloway lost via a unanimous decision. Perhaps that is why UFC balanced it out and put the 32-year-old in the top 10 as opposed to the very top of the division. On top of that, there is no guarantee that the “Blessed” has any intentions of continuing his lightweight journey.
Max Holloway reveals his future plans after UFC 300 win
At present, Max Holloway holds the BMF Championship, he is ranked in the top 10 of the lightweight division and is in the top 5 of the featherweight division. So where does he go from here? The former UFC featherweight champion seemed to be comfortable with where he is positioned after UFC 300.
In the post-fight press conference, Holloway said, “It feels great, you know. Dana is happy, Hunter is happy, Sean Shelby is happy you know. We’re going to sit down with my team and figure it out.” While he wants the lightweight title, Max also wants a shot at Ilia Topuria. He continued, “Like I said, you know, “El Matador,” he is doing everything in his will to try and escape a boo in the pin.” For now, Holloway is poised to enjoy his downtime with his family.
The lightweight champion Islam Makhachev is scheduled to fight Dustin Poirier at UFC 302 on June 1, 2024. While the current featherweight king Ilia Topuria does not have a fight booked yet, other fighters like Alexander Volkanovski and Brian Ortega are already knocking on the door for the next title shot. However, Topuria recently confirmed that he wants to face Max next. So it will be interesting to see how things play out from here.