Justin Gaethje vs Max Holloway UFC 300 Live Blog Updates Play by Play
Welcome to the live play by play updates blog for Justin Gaethje vs Max Holloway bout at UFC 300 for BMF Championship.
Max Holloway is coming up to the lightweight division for this fight as he gets to fight the BMF title. The last time he fought in a lightweight bout was against Dustin Poirier for interim lightweight title which resulted in his first UFC loss. Since then, only Alexander Volkanovski had defeated Holloway.
Justin Gaethje is coming into this bout defeating Poirier itself to win BMF title at UFC 291. He has had mixed bag of results in the past few fights, but is currently on 2 fights winning streak. Will he be able to defend the BMF title successfully for the first time? Tune in below for live round by round updates from Justin Gaethje vs Max Holloway BMF title lightweight bout at UFC 300.
LIVE UPDATES
Round 1: Both men keep their distance for the first 20 seconds. A bit of touching each other after this. Holloway moves out of a big swing. The first minute passes by before Gaethje hits a calf kick. Holloway lands a punch. He slips in avoiding a calf kick. Holloway lands another left punch and a low leg kick. Gaethje also lands a right. Holloway lands an uppercut and left hook. Gaethje hits another calf kick to slow down Holloway. Holloway avoids some punches before landing a jab on the body. He touches a couple of more shots on the body as the fourth minute is underway. Gaethje lands another calf kick. He lands a high kick after 15 seconds. Another calf kick from Gaethje but Holloway replies with a big right. Gaethje slips as he attempts a big shot. Holloway grazes him with a jab. A spinning kick to the midsection from Holloway ends the round. In the replay, we see that kick first landed on Gaethje’s nose before hitting the midsection.
Round 2: Gaethje is breathing heavily as his nose is hurt. It is bleeding heavying now. Holloway keeps his patience though. We only see a few big shot attempts in the first minute. Holloway lands a high kick as the second minute starts. Gaethje lands a calf kick. Holloway ends up poking at Gaethje’s eyes, and it is a bad one. Gaethje still wants to fight though. Both men land calf kicks. Some slow moments before Gaethje lands an overhead right and a calf kick. Holloway ends up putting his thumb into Gaethje’s eyes now. We get a short interruption and a warning from the referee before they resume. Gaethje throws his arm but does not connect. He lands a big calf kick with 40 seconds to go. Holloway connects a punch. Gaethje lands another calf kick. Holloway connects a kick to the ribs. Gaethje ends the round with a punch.
Round 3: Holloway lands a punch to the body. His leg is damaged a bit with the calf kicks. Gaethje throws a front kick. Gaethje’s nose is also not bleeding now. Kicks from both men as the first minute passes. Holloway lands a left hook before Gaethje counters with a jab. Gaethje lands another calf kick before a left hook after a while. Holloway lands a right before a kick to the body. He lands a couple of more big punches before Gaethje composes himself. Gaethje lands a calf kick as he keeps hurting Holloway’s leg. Holloway lands a spinning heel kick. Gaethje presses forward after another punch from Holloway. The action is getting intense now with both men connecting their shots and kicks in the next minute. Holloway lands a right. Gaethje almost slips as he goes for a body kick. Holloway blocks a kick to the ribs before landing one himself. A punch almost slips Gaethje once again.
Round 4: Gaethje lands a front kick to start the round. Holloway replies with the same. They trade more front kicks. Holloway lands an overhead right and a body kick. Gaethje lands a combo. Holloway lands a high kick and a punch. Gaethje pushes him back with a good right. Holloway hurts him with a punch. Gaethje recovers but Holloway lands a good combo after a few seconds. Holloway blocks a big shot from Gaethje before Gaethje lands a calf kick. Gaethje goes for a front kick but Holloway steps aside. Gaethje lands the kick in second attempt. Holloway lands an uppercut. Gaethje lands more calf kicks. Holloway lands a punch before Gaethje drops him to his knees with a big shot. Gaethje lands more shots before Holloway returns to the center. Gaethje lands a body kick with 30 seconds left in the round. More good punches from Gaethje to close the round.
Round 5: Punches thrown but nothing lands in the first 30 seconds. Holloway goes for a body kick which gets blocked. Gaethje lands a punch. Gaethje marches forward with punches but Holloway hits him with a back heel kick. Holloway hits another punch. A bit of back and forth. Holloway lands a big right before he switches up the speed to batter Gaethje with several shots. Gaethje almost goes down as he gets near the cage. Holloway lands more good shots. Gaethje lands a calf kick after things slow down. Holloway lands a punch. He lands a punch to the ribs and one to the head. Gaethje lands a couple of chops. Holloway blocks his jab with a knee to the body. Holloway lands a high kick. Gaethje also lands one high kick. More punches and kick throws. Gaethje attempts a Pele kick but it does not land. They get into a dog fight in the last 10 seconds. This leads to Holloway lands a big right to drop Gaethje to the mat with one second left in the fight.
Official Decision: Max Holloway won via KO at 4:59 in round 5.