Max Holloway is proud of his place in the UFC history books, so he doesn’t think his story needs embellishing.
One incredible stat is that Holloway has never been knocked down in 29 appearances for the promotion. Holloway out-struck and put down the feared Justin Gaethje at UFC 300, and has also thrown hands with the likes of Alexander Volkanovski, Dustin Poirier, Conor McGregor, Yair Rodriguez, Jeremy Stephens, and several other fighters known for their ferocious knockouts.
None of those names have been able to make Holloway touch canvas. Or so it seems.
A hard shot from Gaethje in Round 4 appeared to take Holloway off his feet momentarily, but according to the official stats, it was not registered a knockdown. ESPN later tweeted that Holloway’s unblemished record of resilience remained intact.
But Holloway disputes the accounting of the fight, and wants to give Gaethje his due.
“It didn’t count as a drop, which is crazy,” Holloway said on The Joe Rogan Experience. “ESPN is posting and saying in however many fights I’m with the UFC, I still didn’t get dropped. That’s some bullshit. Give Justin that one. I’ll take it, but I wouldn’t be a man sitting here and telling you that he didn’t.
“All I remember is getting hit by that punch, and then I sat, and then I came back up. I was like, ‘What the f*ck did he just hit me with? Holy shit. That was a good punch.’ Then when I rewatched it, he hit me 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, boom, the legs just give out. I was 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, because that was crazy.”
Max Holloway confirms Justin Gaethje should’ve been credited for UFC 300 knockdown: ‘That’s some bullsh*t’ - MMA Fighting