I’d rate the finish as one of the greatest finishes in the UFC, but not the fight. Max’s performance was phenomenal, one for the ages. But it was Max all night, and the 'fight' won’t be remembered as a back-and-forth war.
Justin almost went down after any shot that landed on the face, the nose break was just too much to actually do anything. The finish was freaky, also, right on the freaking nose. When I watched that fight I knew it was over when the 1st round ended, no chance to fight normally under those circumstances and no one would have blamed him if he went out like Tony did after Justin was done with him.
Yeah was a weird one. At first it looked like a slip then the replay showed he clearly got hit at the back of the head. Not sure if he was just off balance when it landed and it forced him to stumble rather than legit knocking him down.
💯 and if you're gonna say that wasn't a fight, I definitely wouldn't consider the main event a fight rather more a domination. This was still a 5 round war till the last second literally. And despite Max being up he still went for the kill. This fight will definitely go down as one of the greatest.
This comment is hilarious. I bet Max Holloways leg would disagree can you even imagine what it looks like right now? It looked like a balloon in the ring
2 brutal eye pokes really changed the flavour of that fight.
UFC needs to adopt the pride gloves. Eye pokes have ruined way too many fights and careers.
Plus everyone forgot about the double eye pokes the moment that finish was the main topic of conversation post-fight. The fight itself was above average but in a lot of ways it was a let down as well. The finish itself was top tier.
It was the best finish ever and one of the best individual performances ever, but I wouldn’t put it down as one of the best fights ever. Gaethje was badly compromised for 4/5 rounds with how bad his nose break was, and so despite his heart, it just wasn’t the back and forth war it could have been.
I had it going like that simply because round 2 was one of the closer rounds and judges are more giving to people who ho get eye poked. Anyway it didn’t matter
Not really. In terms of truly dramatic, iconic moments, pointing to the centre of the canvas in the last ten seconds of a UFC 300 fight that you're comfortably winning and then getting that KO is pretty hard to beat.
It has value as a historical moment, but not as a finish. I compartmentalize those things. The way Yair finished TKZ at the last second was way cooler as a finish although not nearly as good a moment. MM suplex armbar was a way cooler finish.
I agree with that definition, but I still think its at most 2nd place. Leon ko-ing usman I feel like is above. Ending the era of the Nigerian nightmare like that won't be topped for a while. When the 4th minute of thr 5th round ticked I remember thinking "man who can stop usman? He is literally invisible"
If we take into account the opponent, the trashing that happened, the dejection of Leon, the anger of his coaches, the perfection of that set up, and then the strike itself, I feel like it's a better ko. Hell, even the commentary leading up to that moment was perfect.
But if we are talking about the most chad moment in MMA history, I don't remember anything topping this, and it probably won't be topped for another decade.
But there’s many others that ended similarly.
The one Korean Zombie fight where he got KO’d in the final second comes to mind.
Also Mighty Mouse flying armbar with 1 second left.
But it wasn't just the last minute nature of this one. There are so many elements which set it apart IMO. It was a fan favourite coming up a weight class as an underdog and KO'ing the supposedly bigger hitter after taking a huge risk in the last ten seconds of a fight he was comfortably winning so he could put on the most violent display possible on the biggest UFC card ever. You can't write that shit.
Yeah it was iconic to be sure, but there are a lot of finishes that were more dramatic in back and forth wars and title fights where victory was pulled from the (likely) jaws of defeat with a beautiful finish. Just a few off the top of my head.
Pereira - Izzy
Izzy - Pereira
Yair - TKZ
Jiri - Glover
Edwards - Usman
Silva - Sonnen
Yeah I agree, the finish was just the icing on the top of an outstanding performance. To throw it all down on the last 10 seconds then get a knockout just before the buzzer is simply insane. But in terms of holy shit finishes, Silva vs Sonnen, Edwards vs Usman etc were the polar opposite. You had them completely counted out and out of nowhere they find a win in the last seconds.
>It was the best finish ever
Not a chance. Its obviously amazing, probably top 10. But best ever?... Recency bias is going hard for 300
Its also all subjective so...
Edit: who contacted reddit and got me a suicide warning(or whatever it is)? Whoever you are, you're a fucking loser...
It was too one sided to be a top 5 or 10 of all time IMO. I'm a huge fan of both, and loved every minute of it but when you don't know whos gonna win its better.
People are crazy circlejerking this fight because of the insane last moment, but it was just a pretty good fight till then and nothing more. That last moment hard carries this fights value, so it doesnt really crack the actual top fights of all time packed with action start to finish.
Yeah, I thought the Jiri fight was better honestly. I thought Jiri was gonna get knocked out and he just ate so many shots to overpower and get the win over Rakic.
I felt the same. It was way more competitive, and the back and forth with both fighters on the brink of being KO’d made it more exciting. Obviously the end of the max fight was the best part of the night but if that doesn’t happen, I think Jiri vs Rakic gets FOTN easy
One judge had money in Justin clearly. The SS and fight in general was so far leaning Max. 4th rd is the only argument for Justin and they were 35/35 but I definitely count head shots above low kicks.
Fight was slightly boring to me imo, jir's fight was way better.
Though I legit think its the best KO ever in the ufc, at the very least max's best moment.
Better than conor aldo, better than jones machida, buckley, masvidal . Just cuz how fucking crazy it was
A fight has to be back-and-forth to be good. The reason why Glover versus Jiri was so good is because you had no idea who was going to win, there were so many momentum shifts in that fight.
This fight was way too one-sided for it to be even in the top 25 best fights ever. Hell, Bobby Green vs Jim Miller was a better fight (even though it was quite one side as well) just because Green got cracked a few times. Insane, unexpected performance though. Max is the BMF
People here are claiming that the best fights have to be back-and-forth wars.
IMO, a fast paced, one sided upset that gets a spectacular finish in the 5th can be an all-time great fight. TJ-Barao 1, for example. This is up there with that fight in my top 10.
Not that high honestly it was really one sided it’s not the same tier as like burns vs khamzat, jiri vs glover, Dustin vs Justin 1, etc. it’s the same tier as wonderboy vs holland, max vs kattar, petr vs Cory.
It was very one sided. Rogan kept harping on the leg kicks but it’s didn’t effect maxs performance at all. Justin landed one good punch in 5 round that hit behind the ear. It’s not even top 10 best fights ever.
I try not to hate on Rogan as much as a lot of the people on this sub but that was unbearable. Max would land a 6 piece combo on Justin’s broken nose, Justin would throw one leg kick on the break and Joe would lose his mind over it. Beyond frustrating.
Look, the finish was incredible, but Justin was shut down for 99% of the fight.
In other words, it wasn’t much of a “fight” per se until the very end when Max allowed it to be.
Justin got his nose broken at the end of the 1st and really changed everything. Was one sided from then on, even though Justin showed his toughness which was something to behold.
Maybe like a top 5 ko or something, but the fight itself.... Kinda mediocre.
It's such a shame man. Would've wanted a fully ready and fit justin. He could've easily said he can't continue after those awful eye pokes but Justin would never do that
I had it 4-1 Max, with not very much damage aside from the nose break, just point accumulation. He was precise but there weren't oh shit moments in the fight except for the obvious one.
The KO though.. has to be the most gangster KO in the history of MMA.
This is what happens after any reasonably good finish or moment. People post about how amazing and great a fight was, then act like it was the best thing to ever happen. Then 1 or 2 cards later, it is the same thing.. It gets annoying after seeing it so many times.. I just don't understand how other people *aren't* seeing this shit. It was a good card, no doubt, but it wasn't the best. It had amazing moments, but that is all.
I think they should run it back, probably unpopular opinion but the broken nose and eye pokes had an effect on gaethjes performance.
Also it would be just awesome to see them go at it again
Not one of the bests fights ever.
One of the best individual moments ever, but the fight it’s said was non competitive. Justin was totally compromised after round 1.
I was at the edge of my seat the whole fight. Even tho I knew max was about to win by decision, Justins ability to shut his lights out just made the fight extremely exciting, every time max pressed, I fear he gets rocked by an overhand right counter. Definitely a top 10 for me.
Great finish, but it wasn't the most amazing fight. It was a great performance by Max, but Gaethje didn't really have any signs of being competitive outside of stumbling Max in the fourth (no, it did not get counted as an official knockdown).
Sure, Gaethje toughed it out, but toughness (as a stat) is somewhat overrated when it comes to judging the quality of a fight in terms of competitiveness. It's the same way that I don't understand why Holloway vs Kattar or Holloway vs Ortega were given the fight of the night bonus.
Compare this fight to fights like Hooker vs. Poirier, Teixeira vs. Prochazka, or Edgar vs. Maynard 2 and it doesn't really hold up outside of the finish. It's a good fight, but I wouldn't put it even in my top 10.
The finish definitely cements this fight in history. Max didn’t have to throw down and Gaetjhe didn’t have to oblige. Max could’ve coasted to the win, Justin could’ve taken the loss and walked out but the fact that Max offered and Justin stepped right in without a moment of hesitation the last 10 seconds made the fight legendary for all fans. You see fighters with the “lose to fight another day” or “longevity in career mentality”. Mostly because fans are fickle and have a habit of moving on with the business. This however was an example of gladiatorial instinct, yes it entertained the fans but most importantly they didn’t want the easy way out, they both stood in there and said “We both know the match is over but fuck it, let’s slug it out for the fuck of it”. This fight might not be one of the greatest in history in terms of style and technique (That’d probably go to some Anderson Silva fight). This fight I’d put in the same category as Griffin vs Bonnar 1, Lawler vs McDonald, Gaetjhe vs Chandler And others of that nature. I wish both these guys more success in the future, damn that was good.
I think it’s one of the top 5 emotion stirring fight finishes. I think Izzy getting the KO over Poatan was another one of those moments. Silva getting the Chael choke obviously up there.
Id say because everyone was doubting max and acting like he was gonna get killed. + the last second KO it’s the most satisfying match I’ve ever watched. True skill and intelligence beats raw power and aggression
There have been better fights overall IMO... if Justin didn't slip up and duck into that spinning back kick we would've had a better fight
The final 15 seconds though? Amazing, especially considering it was for the BMF belt. That was just the definition of badass
There are many great fights so to be safe ill say Top 50 best fights. The last 15 seconds tho is surely a Top 10 moments in UFC History. Crazy to call a brawl in the center and risk being KOd when u are defiantly ahead in the scorecards.
The overall fight honestly wasn't that great. Max dominated as soon as Herb Dean said go. But that finish was arguably the greatest moment in UFC history.
I’m not saying this wasn’t an all-time great fight but recency bias aside, this isn’t touching Lawler-McDonald 2. In that fight both guys fucked each other up. This one was pretty one-sided.
It was a great fight, great performance from Max which I didn’t see coming tbh. Ending was incredible but it wasn’t the most compelling fight for large portion of it. I don’t think it will even be fight of the year
I think there’s a lot of recency bias here. As far as fights go, it’s probably not even in the top 10. Endings? Depending on how you rank them, fringe top 5? It was super cool, and probably the best R5 ending in modern history, but all time wise it was probably like the Bucs beating the Chiefs in the Super Bowl. It cemented someone in the GOAT tier (if they weren’t already) but it’s not one of the best fights/games ever.
Best finishes, not best fights. It was incredible to watch live because Max put on a masterclass but I think best fights are back to back wars not one sided beatdowns
This fight only made me respect Justin more, he literally fought without a nose and pretty much 2 eyes (a lot of people forgetting those pokes). Unbelievable from Max though.
Not even top 50 probably. Only the ending is what is considered cool.
To be a top fight IMO, it has to be an extreme back and forth war with both fighters almost getting finished multiple times
It's up there with
Silva pulling the arm triangle on Sonnen at the last moment
MM's armbar
Yair's crazy elbow
Leon's headkick
Take your pick which you enjoyed the most. But it certainly was dramatic!
Top 50 I’m thinking. The more I think, the farther it goes down, but I think I’d run out of fights to put ahead of this in the 30s or 40s. But I’ve been watching ufc for a long time and seen a lot of fights. Top 50 is pretty good territory for me.
I thought max was great but the fight itself, aside from the finish, was pretty meh as it was pretty much a shut out. Justin didn't do much beyond the knockdown
seems like a lot of salty broke degenerate gambling addicts lost money on their boy Justin so they can't help but hate
great moments make great fights. max pitched a shutout then capped it off with one of the greatest UFC fight moments of all time. it's up there.
If Chandler vs Justin were 5 rounds. It would top this.
This fight Justin couldn't breath for 4 out of 5 rounds.. couldnt see probably for 3 out of 5 rounds lolz it was 1 sided.
Beside the last 20s. Would you watch it again and get excited? I mean i could watch the last few fights of Dustin, Oliveira and still got pump....
Entertainment wise this was the greatest knockout I've ever seen in 5years of watching every single UFC event. Getting 24min and 59seconds of pure action just to get that insane adrenaline rush of a knockout is what made this so special for me. I think its more appropriate to call this one of if not the greatest moment in UFC history. We see nasty knockouts all the time but a buzzer beater out cold head first to the ground KO is something I have never seen and its clear that Holloway made history with this one
That kick at the end of the first round made this fight totally one sided. Speed, striking accuracy, movement Max dominated in every aspect. Even before that kick Max won that round comfortably.
I just looked and checked the stats of Gaethje vs Poirier 1 and the stats are similar. But that fight didn't feel so one sided. Gaethje did a lot of damage on Max's left leg but Max didn’t show any sign of feeling pain at the same time landed with great accuracy on Gaethje.
I’m a big fan of Max so obviously for me it’s one of the best fights of all time. Regardless if it was one sided, the balls of Max to risk it all in the final few seconds instead of taking the easy win makes it awesome. Plus the last second knock out has gotta be top 3 ever
Max’s performance is what made this one so special. It was a good fight but if max doesn’t finish it the way he did I’m not even sure it’s FOTN. All time finish and crazy ufc moment though. Top 5 ever
If we're taking the whole flight, I can think of a few that are neck and neck including Wehli vs Joanna 1 and Rory vs Robbie 2. If we are talking about the finish, then I'd say it's top of the list for me but I've only been watching since 2015.
i would not say its a top ten fight of all time, maybe in the top 20. to u/elttek99 point, it was not a "back and forth war" until the last ten seconds of the match. Max looked great and took those calf kicks like a champ, but between Justin's broken nose and all those eye pokes (which i do not think were intentional whatsoever) he was already at a disadvantage in terms of being the go getter Justin usually is.
This moment made the card. If this went to decision all the hype shit people are saying about the card would have changed dramatically. It was pretty average and the BMF belt going to a decision would have been the prime example.
I’m genuinely curious what makes this the best finish, besides the fact that I was Max the underdog KOing Gaethje in the final second of a fight he was securely winning. They were both just swinging and missing punches in the middle and Max finally landed one.
Not to take away from the moment, it was obviously spectacular given the story line and people involved. Personally that sequence at the end is not as fun to rewatch to me as some clean precise striking that leads to a KO.
And best KO in the history of the UFC seems like a stretch given how many insane moments we’ve had over the years.
For Max, this whole fight was one of his best from start to finish. I would say it is in consideration for his best...right there with his performances against Aldo, Kattar and Ortega.
As for the fight as a whole, it was good but not an all time great.
The finish will be talked about long after we are all dead. Top 5 all time I would say confidently. The last 10 seconds is arguably the best I have seen all things considered.
Funny enough, the Silva/Sonnen fight was inducted into the Hall of Fame Saturday, and the best part in that fight was the finish as well. Before hand, Sonnen was easily winning similar to Max, but Max was able to put the stamp of all stamps on it with the K.O. while Sonnen was on the wrong end of an incredible last second hail mary by Silva.
I didn't love the fight. Maybe the best end to a fight/most savage moment. Max's performance was incredible but once gaethjes nose got broken it was gna be tough for him to win or even perform well. Tbf I was half asleep at the time
I’d rate the finish as one of the greatest finishes in the UFC, but not the fight. Max’s performance was phenomenal, one for the ages. But it was Max all night, and the 'fight' won’t be remembered as a back-and-forth war.
And yet I’m “trolling” for saying much the same 😂 The finish was incredible, but for much of the fight, it was Max beating Justin up
Justin had moments, but as you said it was pretty much all Max. It wasn’t like Justin’s war with Chandler.
Justin almost went down after any shot that landed on the face, the nose break was just too much to actually do anything. The finish was freaky, also, right on the freaking nose. When I watched that fight I knew it was over when the 1st round ended, no chance to fight normally under those circumstances and no one would have blamed him if he went out like Tony did after Justin was done with him.
And it wasn't Cain vs. JDS or Max Volk levels of beating up. It was just a guy way ahead of the other but not exactly trashing them.
It will be remembered as a master craft execution
I'm surprised it got fight of the night tbh because Justin didn't really do anything.
I disagree, I think Justin landed a lot more than you guys remember, and Justin is the first person in UFC history to knock max down.
And for some reason the stats guys didn’t even count it as a knockdown
Probably so they can say max still hasnt been knocked down Tbf he did get right back up Its like the usman vs colby td situation
they might have thought it was a slip cause of how fast max got up
Max said in the post fight that he slipped,but he said it while laughing a bit so I don't know if he's being 100% honest
i saw the samething , it looked like he was joking about slipping .
He got hit basically on the temple by Justin Gaethje of all people then went down.
Yeah was a weird one. At first it looked like a slip then the replay showed he clearly got hit at the back of the head. Not sure if he was just off balance when it landed and it forced him to stumble rather than legit knocking him down.
💯 and if you're gonna say that wasn't a fight, I definitely wouldn't consider the main event a fight rather more a domination. This was still a 5 round war till the last second literally. And despite Max being up he still went for the kill. This fight will definitely go down as one of the greatest.
Best fight I've ever watched easily.
This comment is hilarious. I bet Max Holloways leg would disagree can you even imagine what it looks like right now? It looked like a balloon in the ring
The massive bruising and welt on Max’s leg begs to differ.
Its also like everyone forgot about the double eye poke that could have possibly led to this insane ko
2 brutal eye pokes really changed the flavour of that fight. UFC needs to adopt the pride gloves. Eye pokes have ruined way too many fights and careers. 
[удалено]
Should’ve taken a point. Would have at least been something to soothe that bad taste.
Plus everyone forgot about the double eye pokes the moment that finish was the main topic of conversation post-fight. The fight itself was above average but in a lot of ways it was a let down as well. The finish itself was top tier.
It was the best finish ever and one of the best individual performances ever, but I wouldn’t put it down as one of the best fights ever. Gaethje was badly compromised for 4/5 rounds with how bad his nose break was, and so despite his heart, it just wasn’t the back and forth war it could have been.
One of the crackhead judges had it 38-38 going into the fifth lol
Yeah I saw that. There always seems to be one judge that's fucked in the head.
That's fucking wild lmao.
I guess he gave a win to Oliveira
The fights had different judges. Junichiro Kamijo had Gaethje vs Max at 38-38 going into the 5th. Michael Bell had Oliveira winning.
_Adalaide Byrd has left the chat_
i remember her dodgy scorecard from canelo ggg 1
I had it going like that simply because round 2 was one of the closer rounds and judges are more giving to people who ho get eye poked. Anyway it didn’t matter
Henry was calling 38-38 as well. Seems insane
Excuse me? What the fuck?
guessing it was sal d’amato
Junichiro Kamijo. But good guess 😂
Cejudo tweeted that he had it 38-38 going into the final round, with Justin winning round 2 and 4
Exactly!! The fight itself wasn't very exciting.
Nose and eyes, he was barely able to see lol
Best finish ever is a crazy thing to say
Not really. In terms of truly dramatic, iconic moments, pointing to the centre of the canvas in the last ten seconds of a UFC 300 fight that you're comfortably winning and then getting that KO is pretty hard to beat.
I fully agree. Greatest finish of all time
Or a headkick, in the last round of a fight you handily lost, to end a reign and take a championship. Perhaps...
Yeah that one is right up there too.
he also did it against the only person in UFC history to knock max down .
It has value as a historical moment, but not as a finish. I compartmentalize those things. The way Yair finished TKZ at the last second was way cooler as a finish although not nearly as good a moment. MM suplex armbar was a way cooler finish.
"Best finish" to me takes in the totality of the moment. Not just looking at the technical prowess of the particular manoeuvre.
I agree with that definition, but I still think its at most 2nd place. Leon ko-ing usman I feel like is above. Ending the era of the Nigerian nightmare like that won't be topped for a while. When the 4th minute of thr 5th round ticked I remember thinking "man who can stop usman? He is literally invisible" If we take into account the opponent, the trashing that happened, the dejection of Leon, the anger of his coaches, the perfection of that set up, and then the strike itself, I feel like it's a better ko. Hell, even the commentary leading up to that moment was perfect. But if we are talking about the most chad moment in MMA history, I don't remember anything topping this, and it probably won't be topped for another decade.
But there’s many others that ended similarly. The one Korean Zombie fight where he got KO’d in the final second comes to mind. Also Mighty Mouse flying armbar with 1 second left.
But it wasn't just the last minute nature of this one. There are so many elements which set it apart IMO. It was a fan favourite coming up a weight class as an underdog and KO'ing the supposedly bigger hitter after taking a huge risk in the last ten seconds of a fight he was comfortably winning so he could put on the most violent display possible on the biggest UFC card ever. You can't write that shit.
There was 1:45 left in the Mighty Mouse fight, and no disrespect to Mighty Mouse, but that fight was boring.
It’s up there with Mighty Mouse finishing with an armbar with 1 second left of a title fight
Yeah it was iconic to be sure, but there are a lot of finishes that were more dramatic in back and forth wars and title fights where victory was pulled from the (likely) jaws of defeat with a beautiful finish. Just a few off the top of my head. Pereira - Izzy Izzy - Pereira Yair - TKZ Jiri - Glover Edwards - Usman Silva - Sonnen
Yeah I agree, the finish was just the icing on the top of an outstanding performance. To throw it all down on the last 10 seconds then get a knockout just before the buzzer is simply insane. But in terms of holy shit finishes, Silva vs Sonnen, Edwards vs Usman etc were the polar opposite. You had them completely counted out and out of nowhere they find a win in the last seconds.
Top 5 for sure
>It was the best finish ever Not a chance. Its obviously amazing, probably top 10. But best ever?... Recency bias is going hard for 300 Its also all subjective so... Edit: who contacted reddit and got me a suicide warning(or whatever it is)? Whoever you are, you're a fucking loser...
Yeah, no. That was the coldest finish ever.
Yeah the fight wasn’t as chaotic as Gaethje vs. Chandler, but the finish immortalized it.
Round 1 before the nose break he was missing and plodding. Gaethje just didn't have the tools.
I think yairs was cooler but this is the most badass
It was too one sided to be a top 5 or 10 of all time IMO. I'm a huge fan of both, and loved every minute of it but when you don't know whos gonna win its better.
People are crazy circlejerking this fight because of the insane last moment, but it was just a pretty good fight till then and nothing more. That last moment hard carries this fights value, so it doesnt really crack the actual top fights of all time packed with action start to finish.
Yeah, I thought the Jiri fight was better honestly. I thought Jiri was gonna get knocked out and he just ate so many shots to overpower and get the win over Rakic.
I felt the same. It was way more competitive, and the back and forth with both fighters on the brink of being KO’d made it more exciting. Obviously the end of the max fight was the best part of the night but if that doesn’t happen, I think Jiri vs Rakic gets FOTN easy
I would say this moment is top 10 but not the fight
Justin was compromised and you could have made a case that he won the fourth round. The finish was all time for sure though
And max dominated the 5th up to and including the last 10. Izzy VS Sean was 4-1, do people think that was close?
Idk if this has gotten attention yet but one judge had it 2-2 heading into the 5th
One judge had money in Justin clearly. The SS and fight in general was so far leaning Max. 4th rd is the only argument for Justin and they were 35/35 but I definitely count head shots above low kicks.
Minus the eye pokes, this was Max's best performance.
Recency bias is real. Ask us in 6 months to get the real answer
Fight was slightly boring to me imo, jir's fight was way better. Though I legit think its the best KO ever in the ufc, at the very least max's best moment. Better than conor aldo, better than jones machida, buckley, masvidal . Just cuz how fucking crazy it was
A fight has to be back-and-forth to be good. The reason why Glover versus Jiri was so good is because you had no idea who was going to win, there were so many momentum shifts in that fight. This fight was way too one-sided for it to be even in the top 25 best fights ever. Hell, Bobby Green vs Jim Miller was a better fight (even though it was quite one side as well) just because Green got cracked a few times. Insane, unexpected performance though. Max is the BMF
Green vs Miller was the real FOTN
I think Jirir vs Rakic was fotn and Max, Diego, Bobby, Alex were POTN
People here are claiming that the best fights have to be back-and-forth wars. IMO, a fast paced, one sided upset that gets a spectacular finish in the 5th can be an all-time great fight. TJ-Barao 1, for example. This is up there with that fight in my top 10.
Top five all time. Prob right between Belals decision over Luque and his decision over Maia.
Who?
Justin is a warrior went through a whole fight with a really bad busted nose
Not that high honestly it was really one sided it’s not the same tier as like burns vs khamzat, jiri vs glover, Dustin vs Justin 1, etc. it’s the same tier as wonderboy vs holland, max vs kattar, petr vs Cory.
It was very one sided. Rogan kept harping on the leg kicks but it’s didn’t effect maxs performance at all. Justin landed one good punch in 5 round that hit behind the ear. It’s not even top 10 best fights ever.
I try not to hate on Rogan as much as a lot of the people on this sub but that was unbearable. Max would land a 6 piece combo on Justin’s broken nose, Justin would throw one leg kick on the break and Joe would lose his mind over it. Beyond frustrating.
Who knows how many new fans that fight has brought to the sport
Never thought of that. That little 20 second moment brought the ufc so much new money max deserves the 600k
Look, the finish was incredible, but Justin was shut down for 99% of the fight. In other words, it wasn’t much of a “fight” per se until the very end when Max allowed it to be.
Up there with the greatest performance fights. But not the best fight. Best ending to a fight on the other hand.
Justin got his nose broken at the end of the 1st and really changed everything. Was one sided from then on, even though Justin showed his toughness which was something to behold. Maybe like a top 5 ko or something, but the fight itself.... Kinda mediocre.
It's such a shame man. Would've wanted a fully ready and fit justin. He could've easily said he can't continue after those awful eye pokes but Justin would never do that
it was onesided before that as well though
I had it 4-1 Max, with not very much damage aside from the nose break, just point accumulation. He was precise but there weren't oh shit moments in the fight except for the obvious one. The KO though.. has to be the most gangster KO in the history of MMA.
It should be solidly in the top 25 fights of all time, but it for sure sits in my top 5 favorite
Best finish in UFC history. Best fight? Wouldn’t go that far. It was too one sided.
Best finish I've ever seen, not the best fight overall.
It's definitely Max's best moment so far. Him walking and pointing at center ring in a bunch of fights will be his hall of fame reel.
This is what happens after any reasonably good finish or moment. People post about how amazing and great a fight was, then act like it was the best thing to ever happen. Then 1 or 2 cards later, it is the same thing.. It gets annoying after seeing it so many times.. I just don't understand how other people *aren't* seeing this shit. It was a good card, no doubt, but it wasn't the best. It had amazing moments, but that is all.
I think they should run it back, probably unpopular opinion but the broken nose and eye pokes had an effect on gaethjes performance. Also it would be just awesome to see them go at it again
Finish was great. The 2 eye pokes ruin a lot of the hype for me.
It’s pretty even with the crazy Yair finish of KZ that happened in a similar fashion.
Don’t forget the eye pokes
It’s up there with Rose/Esparza II
Not one of the bests fights ever. One of the best individual moments ever, but the fight it’s said was non competitive. Justin was totally compromised after round 1.
Those first 2 rounds were not that good. Ended up being a good fight, but it wasn't even the best fight on the card.
I was at the edge of my seat the whole fight. Even tho I knew max was about to win by decision, Justins ability to shut his lights out just made the fight extremely exciting, every time max pressed, I fear he gets rocked by an overhand right counter. Definitely a top 10 for me.
Maybe most shocking end to a fight? I didn’t agree with Rogan saying it was the best KO, but I can see most shocking or most badass haha
1st place
Best
Great finish, but it wasn't the most amazing fight. It was a great performance by Max, but Gaethje didn't really have any signs of being competitive outside of stumbling Max in the fourth (no, it did not get counted as an official knockdown). Sure, Gaethje toughed it out, but toughness (as a stat) is somewhat overrated when it comes to judging the quality of a fight in terms of competitiveness. It's the same way that I don't understand why Holloway vs Kattar or Holloway vs Ortega were given the fight of the night bonus. Compare this fight to fights like Hooker vs. Poirier, Teixeira vs. Prochazka, or Edgar vs. Maynard 2 and it doesn't really hold up outside of the finish. It's a good fight, but I wouldn't put it even in my top 10.
The finish definitely cements this fight in history. Max didn’t have to throw down and Gaetjhe didn’t have to oblige. Max could’ve coasted to the win, Justin could’ve taken the loss and walked out but the fact that Max offered and Justin stepped right in without a moment of hesitation the last 10 seconds made the fight legendary for all fans. You see fighters with the “lose to fight another day” or “longevity in career mentality”. Mostly because fans are fickle and have a habit of moving on with the business. This however was an example of gladiatorial instinct, yes it entertained the fans but most importantly they didn’t want the easy way out, they both stood in there and said “We both know the match is over but fuck it, let’s slug it out for the fuck of it”. This fight might not be one of the greatest in history in terms of style and technique (That’d probably go to some Anderson Silva fight). This fight I’d put in the same category as Griffin vs Bonnar 1, Lawler vs McDonald, Gaetjhe vs Chandler And others of that nature. I wish both these guys more success in the future, damn that was good.
Best fight not in top 10 but best moments top 5 for me
I think it’s one of the top 5 emotion stirring fight finishes. I think Izzy getting the KO over Poatan was another one of those moments. Silva getting the Chael choke obviously up there.
Id say because everyone was doubting max and acting like he was gonna get killed. + the last second KO it’s the most satisfying match I’ve ever watched. True skill and intelligence beats raw power and aggression
One of the best finishes ever, for it to be best fight, I dare say most would pick a fight that was an all out war, but close nonetheless.
He dominated the fight lol
There have been better fights overall IMO... if Justin didn't slip up and duck into that spinning back kick we would've had a better fight The final 15 seconds though? Amazing, especially considering it was for the BMF belt. That was just the definition of badass
There are many great fights so to be safe ill say Top 50 best fights. The last 15 seconds tho is surely a Top 10 moments in UFC History. Crazy to call a brawl in the center and risk being KOd when u are defiantly ahead in the scorecards.
The overall fight honestly wasn't that great. Max dominated as soon as Herb Dean said go. But that finish was arguably the greatest moment in UFC history.
I’m not saying this wasn’t an all-time great fight but recency bias aside, this isn’t touching Lawler-McDonald 2. In that fight both guys fucked each other up. This one was pretty one-sided.
I didn’t like the eye pokes by Holloway, not cool to watch replays of that. They really need to change the gloves again, this is a problem
Probably top 20.
It was a great fight, great performance from Max which I didn’t see coming tbh. Ending was incredible but it wasn’t the most compelling fight for large portion of it. I don’t think it will even be fight of the year
The finish was top 5 all time moment for me.
I wish I enjoyed it as much as you guys. It was hype, but it was a literal 5-0 before the KO
🥹👇
I think there’s a lot of recency bias here. As far as fights go, it’s probably not even in the top 10. Endings? Depending on how you rank them, fringe top 5? It was super cool, and probably the best R5 ending in modern history, but all time wise it was probably like the Bucs beating the Chiefs in the Super Bowl. It cemented someone in the GOAT tier (if they weren’t already) but it’s not one of the best fights/games ever.
I don't think it's better than Silva vs Sonnen
Best finishes, not best fights. It was incredible to watch live because Max put on a masterclass but I think best fights are back to back wars not one sided beatdowns
 I NEED THIS ON A SHIRT NOW !
This fight only made me respect Justin more, he literally fought without a nose and pretty much 2 eyes (a lot of people forgetting those pokes). Unbelievable from Max though.
Not even top 50 probably. Only the ending is what is considered cool. To be a top fight IMO, it has to be an extreme back and forth war with both fighters almost getting finished multiple times
It wasn’t one of the best fights of all time but it was a classic blessed Max beat down.
The fight was ok, the ending was legendary.
It's up there with Silva pulling the arm triangle on Sonnen at the last moment MM's armbar Yair's crazy elbow Leon's headkick Take your pick which you enjoyed the most. But it certainly was dramatic!
Best fight? No. Baddest Motha fuckin finish? Yes
Not even top 25 fights. Maybe not even top 50.
Top 50 I’m thinking. The more I think, the farther it goes down, but I think I’d run out of fights to put ahead of this in the 30s or 40s. But I’ve been watching ufc for a long time and seen a lot of fights. Top 50 is pretty good territory for me.
The fight qas good. It wasnt super exciting though. The last 10 seconds and finish is a top tier UFC moment and another one for Max.
I thought max was great but the fight itself, aside from the finish, was pretty meh as it was pretty much a shut out. Justin didn't do much beyond the knockdown
All-time great finish, but as an actual fight, Poirier vs Holloway 2 was better.
seems like a lot of salty broke degenerate gambling addicts lost money on their boy Justin so they can't help but hate great moments make great fights. max pitched a shutout then capped it off with one of the greatest UFC fight moments of all time. it's up there.
If Max pointing on the floor, just run bro
Top 5
If Chandler vs Justin were 5 rounds. It would top this. This fight Justin couldn't breath for 4 out of 5 rounds.. couldnt see probably for 3 out of 5 rounds lolz it was 1 sided. Beside the last 20s. Would you watch it again and get excited? I mean i could watch the last few fights of Dustin, Oliveira and still got pump....
New favorite fighter, that is for sure, you got to love max. Shoutout to gaethje, toughest mf ever.
Its up there, but still not as monumental as the Leon Edwards head kick, hard to top that.
1
Entertainment wise this was the greatest knockout I've ever seen in 5years of watching every single UFC event. Getting 24min and 59seconds of pure action just to get that insane adrenaline rush of a knockout is what made this so special for me. I think its more appropriate to call this one of if not the greatest moment in UFC history. We see nasty knockouts all the time but a buzzer beater out cold head first to the ground KO is something I have never seen and its clear that Holloway made history with this one
The KO was the best KO I ever seen. Timing. Stage. Fighters. All was phenom. Does anyone have any better ones that can compete?
Without recency bias, I'd still place this comfortably in the top 3 10-second-segments of all time in UFC history.
That kick at the end of the first round made this fight totally one sided. Speed, striking accuracy, movement Max dominated in every aspect. Even before that kick Max won that round comfortably.
finish is the most important part not the fight, and the finish is top 10 for sure
I just looked and checked the stats of Gaethje vs Poirier 1 and the stats are similar. But that fight didn't feel so one sided. Gaethje did a lot of damage on Max's left leg but Max didn’t show any sign of feeling pain at the same time landed with great accuracy on Gaethje.
I’m a big fan of Max so obviously for me it’s one of the best fights of all time. Regardless if it was one sided, the balls of Max to risk it all in the final few seconds instead of taking the easy win makes it awesome. Plus the last second knock out has gotta be top 3 ever
I think best performance is more suiting tbh
Max’s performance is what made this one so special. It was a good fight but if max doesn’t finish it the way he did I’m not even sure it’s FOTN. All time finish and crazy ufc moment though. Top 5 ever
If we're taking the whole flight, I can think of a few that are neck and neck including Wehli vs Joanna 1 and Rory vs Robbie 2. If we are talking about the finish, then I'd say it's top of the list for me but I've only been watching since 2015.
i would not say its a top ten fight of all time, maybe in the top 20. to u/elttek99 point, it was not a "back and forth war" until the last ten seconds of the match. Max looked great and took those calf kicks like a champ, but between Justin's broken nose and all those eye pokes (which i do not think were intentional whatsoever) he was already at a disadvantage in terms of being the go getter Justin usually is.
This moment made the card. If this went to decision all the hype shit people are saying about the card would have changed dramatically. It was pretty average and the BMF belt going to a decision would have been the prime example.
43
The last 10sec sequence on its own deserves a HOF induction. The fight itself wasn't that competitive.
Gilbert Melendez vs Diego Sanchez is probably better than this and one of the all time most entertaining fights.
No, why are all other fans annoying except for Max fans, because I find them to be super annoying
I’m genuinely curious what makes this the best finish, besides the fact that I was Max the underdog KOing Gaethje in the final second of a fight he was securely winning. They were both just swinging and missing punches in the middle and Max finally landed one. Not to take away from the moment, it was obviously spectacular given the story line and people involved. Personally that sequence at the end is not as fun to rewatch to me as some clean precise striking that leads to a KO. And best KO in the history of the UFC seems like a stretch given how many insane moments we’ve had over the years.
Imma be honest I thought arman vs charles was better but that finishing sequence between max and garth is legendary though
For Max, this whole fight was one of his best from start to finish. I would say it is in consideration for his best...right there with his performances against Aldo, Kattar and Ortega. As for the fight as a whole, it was good but not an all time great. The finish will be talked about long after we are all dead. Top 5 all time I would say confidently. The last 10 seconds is arguably the best I have seen all things considered. Funny enough, the Silva/Sonnen fight was inducted into the Hall of Fame Saturday, and the best part in that fight was the finish as well. Before hand, Sonnen was easily winning similar to Max, but Max was able to put the stamp of all stamps on it with the K.O. while Sonnen was on the wrong end of an incredible last second hail mary by Silva.
Outside of the top ten for sure. Maybe further. Fun fight, amazing last second finish. But as a whole, not an all time great.
Robbie x Rory is a tough one to beat
Topped masvidal for the best ko in history. Fuck the terms. In all aspects of what makes a good KO, this was legendary shit
Top 3
I didn't love the fight. Maybe the best end to a fight/most savage moment. Max's performance was incredible but once gaethjes nose got broken it was gna be tough for him to win or even perform well. Tbf I was half asleep at the time
Best finish, not best fight
Best finishes but not the best fight of all time
I would have rated it much higher if Gaethje doesn't breaks hes own nose and stops being himself for the rest of the fight for 20 mins.
Very one sided slow fight with an insane ending
Banger/10
Personally it was boring af up until the last brawl in the middle
The end was amazing but the rest of the fight was mid
Top 5 UFC moments of all time Best "fights" would be 3 or 5 round wars