Max Holloway | UFC Betting Sites - The Best MMA Online Bookies

“Just Retire It. End It.” Ariel Helwani Slams BMF Belt Calling for Its End

"Just Retire It. End It." Ariel Helwani Slams BMF Belt Calling for Its End Ariel Helwani thinks it’s time for the UFC to retire the BMF title. Introduced in 2019, the bragging rights…

Ariel Helwani thinks it’s time for the UFC to retire the BMF title.

Introduced in 2019, the bragging rights belt was established to give Jorge Masvidal and Nate Diaz something to fight for when the two fan favorites headlined UFC 244 in Madison Square Garden. ‘Gamebred’ ended up winning the title via a third-round doctor’s stoppage TKO.

Since then, the belt has found its way around the waist of both Justin Gaethje and Max Holloway in 2024, but Helwani thinks the UFC should have done away with the gimmick immediately after it was wrapped around Masvidal’s waist.

The BMF title is an absolute mess. Just retire it. End it. pic.twitter.com/cssCd4oPfg

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) October 30, 2024

”He [Usman] was the king of the welterweights and the people who were fighting for the BMF title weren’t in title contention just yet and so if you can’t be a champion there, you could create your own belt and this has been the issue that I’ve always had with the BMF title,” Helwani said on his show.

“If I’m Islam Makhachev and you are touting Max Holloway is the baddest motherf**ker on the planet, I’m like, ‘Yo, this is my weight class, you won to fight in, I’m the baddest guy on the planet, I’m the baddest MFer at 155,’ that’s what the belt should recognize… Not some like secondary division within the division… It should have ended with the Masvidal fight in MSG.”

No Reigning BMF champion has ever won a fight inside the octagon

Masvidal went on to lose four straight fights inside the Octagon before walking away from the promotion last year. The promotion then reintroduced the title at UFC 291 for a long-awaited rematch between Justin Gaethje and Dustin Poirier.

‘The Highlight’ ended up winning the fight and the title via a stunning second-round head-kick KO but handed it over to Max Holloway nine months later at UFC 300 when ‘Blessed’ scored an insane buzzer-beating knockout against the lightweight contender.

Holloway recently returned to the Octagon at UFC 308, not to defend the BMF belt, but to try and add another piece of hardware to his collection. ‘Blessed’ squared off with featherweight king Ilia Topuria and ended up suffering the first knockout loss of his illustrious career.

Interestingly, no BMF titleholder has ever won a fight inside the Octagon. Masvidal, Gaethje, and Holloway all went a combined 0-6 after laying claim to the fictitious title.

Maybe Helwani is onto something.

Max Holloway Addresses His Future After Suffering First Knockout At UFC 308

Though he had a strong performance against Ilia Topuria, Max Holloway’s efforts were not enough. He was knocked out for the first time in his professional career as Ilia Topuria retained the featherweight championship in the main event of UFC 308. Holloway appeared to be performing well, getting into his groove late in the first […]

Continue Reading Max Holloway Addresses His Future After Suffering First Knockout At UFC 308 at MMA News.

Holloway appeared to be performing well, getting into his groove late in the first round and trying to keep distance to land counterstrikes and combinations. But the former champ was caught in the third round, eating a flurry and being dropped by a right hand.

“It is what it is, I felt good,” Holloway said during his UFC 308 post-fight press conference. “Showing off my hands, I was landing, I was being fast, I think I had him surprised in there. Like I said, I was doing good until I wasn’t.

“Game of inches. He landed something that I found myself looking up from the ground.”

Max Holloway Mulling Over Potential Full-Time Move To Lightweight After UFC 308 Setback

Holloway originally became undisputed featherweight champion with a TKO of José Aldo at UFC 212. He retained the title against the Brazilian legend, Brian Ortega, and Frankie Edgar before losing to Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 245.

Since then, Holloway has rematched Volkanovski for the title twice, losing both times. UFC 308 marked the third time “Blessed” has unsuccessfully attempted to win back the 145-pound UFC gold. However, those are his only losses at the weight class since becoming the champion.

So what could be next for Holloway? He isn’t ruling out, and is even thinking hard about, a potential move up in weight class given the potential fights that could happen there. But the Hawaiian said he’s not looking to fight again until the middle of 2025, and so there is time to think things over in full.

“We’ll sit down with the team, relax, there’s nothing needed to be rushing back right now,” Holloway said. “[I’ll] probably try to come back summer, big July card in Vegas, do something, see what happens. [Lightweight] looks really good right now.

“I had a couple of times to reclaim [the featherweight title], new guys coming up, that would be fun, but I think ’55 looks more fun…”

Holloway earned the title shot against Topuria through his famed knockout of Justin Gaethje at UFC 300 earlier this year, which gave him the BMF belt.

“Blessed” fought at lightweight in the UFC just once prior to that, losing an interim title fight with Dustin Poirier at UFC 236.

Read More: Ilia Topuria Declares Himself The New ‘BMF’ Champ After Max Holloway Win

Continue Reading Max Holloway Addresses His Future After Suffering First Knockout At UFC 308 at MMA News.

Max Holloway Reveals Post-Fight Exchange with Ilia Topuria, Shares Thoughts on ‘El Matador’s’ Trash Talk

Leading into UFC 308, ‘El Matador’ Ilia Topuria shared some trash talk against ‘Blessed’ Max Holloway. Once the cage…

Leading into UFC 308, ‘El Matador’ Ilia Topuria shared some trash talk against ‘Blessed’ Max Holloway. Once the cage door locked, the Georgian-Spanish athlete was able to earn a knockout win against the former champion to defend his title. Afterward, the two exchanged some discussion in the center of the octagon.

Max Holloway Reveals Post-Fight Chat with Ilia Topuria

After getting knocked out, ‘Blessed’ took some time to speak to the media in spite of his championship loss. The Hawaiian athlete holds the record for most significant strikes landed in UFC history, but was unable to out-strike the highly dangerous Ilia Topuria. ‘El Matador‘ now has knockout wins over Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway, two pound-for-pound greats.

Speaking to the media, Max Holloways revealed what was said in their post-fight exchange. He said:

“I just told him congrats. You know, he was telling me I’m a legend. You know, all that talk that he does I think he just does it for you guys, you know. He seems like a really good — cool guy. So at the end of the day, he’s being nice, you know, telling me I was a legend, telling me he watched my career coming up, and he takes a lot of inspiration, him and his brother. His brother is nice and cool.”

On the trash talk, Holloway understood. He added:

“So it is what it is, you know. It’s a media game. That’s the way he wants to play it. That’s the way he plays it. But behind the scenes, he’s a cool guy.”

Coming off of the first knockout loss of his career it would be prudent for Holloway to take some time off from the sport and return after a hiatus, which will likely see him move up a weight class to 155. Ilia Topuria has also expressed interest in moving up a weight division to try and become a double champ in the UFC.

Ilia Topuria Max Holloway UFC 308 — ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES – OCTOBER 26: Ilia Topuria of Spain reacts after a knockout victory against Max Holloway in the UFC featherweight championship fight during the UFC 308 event at Etihad Arena on October 26, 2024 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)

Joe Rogan and Crew React Live to Ilia Topuria’s KO of Max Holloway at UFC 308: ‘Bro, that guy is so legit.’

UFC commentator Joe Rogan and his fight companions went berzerk watching Ilia Topuria knock out Max Holloway in the…

UFC commentator Joe Rogan and his fight companions went berzerk watching Ilia Topuria knock out Max Holloway in the UFC 308 main event.

Topuria shocked the world by becoming the first fighter to knock out Holloway at UFC 308 on Saturday in Abu Dhabi. The UFC featherweight champion backed up his pre-fight taunts with actions, as he collapsed Holloway in Round 3.

Rogan, a longtime UFC analyst and fight fan has praised Topuria’s potential for months, dating back to before Topuria won the UFC belt. Topuria’s title win over Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298 cemented some of Rogan’s assessments of his fighting skillset.

Many believed Topuria had what it took to defeat Holloway at UFC 308, but few felt he’d deliver on his pre-fight knockout prediction. Rogan was stunned when Topuria did what he promised he’d do to Holloway inside the Octagon.

Joe Rogan goes wild as Ilia Topuria flattens Max Holloway

Check out Rogan’s live reaction to Topuria’s history-making knockout in the clip below.

Rogan went on to assess whether or not Holloway’s featherweight days were done after the loss to Topuria. Holloway seemed to confirm a permanent move up to lightweight during his post-fight press conference remarks.

Topuria remains undefeated in his MMA career after the win over Holloway. Before winning the title against Volkanovski, Topuria defeated the likes of Josh Emmett, Bryce Mitchell, and Jai Herbert.

Topuria is a blossoming international superstar, especially after UFC 308. He’s targeting a return to the Octagon next year for the UFC’s potential debut event in Spain.

Video: Ilia Topuria Says ‘F–k’ Conor McGregor for UFC 308 Criticism Post-Holloway KO

Ilia Topuria, fresh off of knocking out Max Holloway at Saturday’s UFC 308, didn’t take kindly to the since-deleted criticisms leveled at him on social media…

UFC 306: Ilia Topuria is the Next Star in the Making After Destroying Max Holloway

In the end, Ilia Topuria did exactly what he said he’d do. The featherweight champion was back in action in the main event of Saturday’s UFC 308 card in Abu…