Fight history
Holloway vs. Gaethje, UFC 300: The Last-Second Knockout, the Cards and the Stats
Holloway was ahead on two cards and level on the third when he pointed at the canvas with ten seconds left. Gaethje accepted, and a Holloway right hand ended it at 4:59 of the fifth round.
Gaethje
HollowayAt a glance
- ResultHolloway by KO (right hand), round 5, 4:59; referee Marc Goddard
- The judgesAfter four rounds: Derek Cleary and Sal D'Amato 39-37 Holloway, Junichiro Kamijo 38-38
- The stakesGaethje's BMF title, a symbolic belt; Holloway moving up from featherweight as the betting underdog
- The statsHolloway 181 of 309 significant strikes to Gaethje's 103 of 199, and 62 to 18 in round 5
- The bonusesFight of the Night for both, Performance of the Night for Holloway: $600,000 to him, $300,000 to Gaethje
- Our card39-37 Holloway after four rounds, the same as two of the three judges
Watch the fight
The UFC's own replay of the bout, posted on its official YouTube channel as a "Fight Flashback" (23:50). Tap to play it here.
What was at stake
The BMF title, a symbolic belt rather than a UFC championship, as UFC.com and CBS Sports both describe it; the official statistics list a plain lightweight bout. Justin Gaethje, a former interim lightweight champion, had won it by knocking out Dustin Poirier with a head kick in the second round at UFC 291 in July 2023, as theScore and LowKick MMA report and the official record shows. That was his second straight win, after one over Rafael Fiziev, as LowKick and PostWrestling note.
Max Holloway, the former featherweight champion, moved up to lightweight, as theScore and PostWrestling note. His one earlier try at 155 pounds was a decision loss to Poirier for the interim title in April 2019, as the official record shows and Sherdog recalls. He had won two in a row, the last a third-round knockout of Chan Sung Jung in August 2023, as LowKick MMA and theScore report. He was the underdog, as Sherdog notes: -162 against +136 in LowKick's closing odds, -174 against +145 in UFCalendar's average of seven sportsbooks.
The official result and the judges' cards
| Winner | Method | Round | Time | Referee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Max Holloway | KO (right hand) | 5 of 5 | 4:59 | Marc Goddard |
The UFC's official scorecard reads "Max Holloway won by KO 4:59 of round 5"; the official statistics record a "Punch to Head At Distance" at 4:59, and UFC.com, Sherdog and UFCalendar agree on the time. UFCalendar and PostWrestling call it a TKO; we use the UFC's KO. The scorecard, the official statistics and UFCalendar name Marc Goddard as the referee.
Four rounds had been scored. The UFC's official scorecard and UFCalendar give the same cards, round by round:
| Judge | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | After four |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Derek Cleary | 10-9 | 10-9 | 10-9 | 9-10 | 39-37 |
| Sal D'Amato | 10-9 | 10-9 | 10-9 | 9-10 | 39-37 |
| Junichiro Kamijo | 10-9 | 9-10 | 10-9 | 9-10 | 38-38 |
Holloway's score first. GiveMeSport reports the same three totals and that Kamijo gave Gaethje the second round. The scorecard shows no point deductions.
So Holloway started the fifth round ahead on two cards and level on the third, as theScore, Yahoo Sports and the Associated Press also reported. That left Gaethje one way to win. A 10-9 fifth for him would still have lost a split decision, 48-47 twice for Holloway against 48-47 once for Gaethje; even a 10-8 would only have produced a majority draw. He needed a finish. And the fifth was Holloway's: he landed 62 significant strikes in it to Gaethje's 18, which on the cards means 49-46, 49-46 and 48-47. In the last ten seconds, the only way Holloway could lose was to be knocked out.
Round by round
Round 1 - Holloway on all three cards
Holloway picked at Gaethje with long punches, as UFC.com describes, while Gaethje went to the legs, as Sherdog's play-by-play records. At the horn Holloway landed a spinning back kick to the face. UFC.com, CBS Sports, theScore, Cageside Press and LowKick MMA all say it hurt Gaethje's nose; UFC.com and LowKick say it broke it, CBS and Cageside that it seemed to. Officially Holloway landed 25 of 39 significant strikes to 12 of 26.
Round 2 - Holloway on two cards, Gaethje on Kamijo's
Holloway's finger went into Gaethje's eye and the fight was paused, as Sherdog's play-by-play and CBS Sports report; CBS and Yahoo Sports describe a second poke later on. Gaethje's nose was bleeding, as Sherdog and Cageside both report. Holloway out-landed him 30 of 53 to 18 of 26, mostly to the body and legs. To the head Gaethje led 6 to 4, and he landed all nine of his leg kicks: the case for Kamijo's 10-9 Gaethje.
Round 3 - Holloway on all three cards
Holloway hurt Gaethje with punches. Cageside has a right hand wobbling him and Sherdog's play-by-play has a run of punches dropping him to a knee. The official statistics record no knockdown. The count: 29 of 53 for Holloway to Gaethje's 20 of 38.
Round 4 - Gaethje on all three cards
Gaethje's best round. A right hand put Holloway down: UFC.com, CBS Sports, theScore, Cageside Press, Sherdog and LowKick MMA all describe it, and Cageside and LowKick call it the first knockdown of Holloway's career. He recovered and saw out the round, as CBS and Cageside report; the official statistics do not count a knockdown. Gaethje matched his output for the only time, 35 significant strikes each, and led 18 to 15 to the head.
Round 5 - Holloway by KO at 4:59
Holloway took the fight back: CBS Sports describes a combination that sent Gaethje stumbling into the cage, and Cageside has him rocked. Holloway landed 62 of 103 significant strikes, the most by either man in any round, to Gaethje's 18 of 49.
The last ten seconds
When the ten-second warning sounded, Holloway pointed at the canvas and invited Gaethje to trade in the center of the Octagon. UFC.com ties it to that warning, theScore and the Star-Advertiser say ten seconds were left and CBS Sports under ten; Cageside Press says "15 or so seconds". He was offering an exchange in a fight he had all but won, as CBS, Yahoo Sports and Sherdog's play-by-play all note. theScore and MMA Junkie trace the gesture to his 2016 decision win over Ricardo Lamas at UFC 199, where he did the same while ahead.
Gaethje accepted, and both men swung. With about a second left a Holloway right hand landed and Gaethje fell face first, unconscious. UFC.com, theScore, LowKick MMA and the Star-Advertiser call it a right hand or right hook, CBS Sports and PostWrestling an overhand right. Goddard stopped it at 4:59. Cageside's report says "barely two seconds" were left; we use the official time.
"If that's not a BMF moment, I don't know what is," Holloway said, in words the Associated Press, Cageside Press and Sherdog all print. He added that Gaethje, had he been ahead, would have given him the same ten seconds, which all three report in different words.
No fight in the official statistics has been stopped later in a fifth round. Two others ended at 4:59 of round 5: Demetrious Johnson's armbar of Kyoji Horiguchi at UFC 186 in 2015 and Yair Rodriguez's elbow knockout of Jung in 2018, and CBS Sports ranks Holloway's as the latest of the three. CBS Sports, Cageside Press and Sherdog all named it their 2024 Knockout of the Year.
What the numbers say
The official statistics, round by round (Holloway first; significant strikes):
| Round | Landed | Thrown | Head | Body | Legs | KD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R1 | 25 - 12 | 39 - 26 | 10 - 4 | 5 - 2 | 10 - 6 | 0 - 0 |
| R2 | 30 - 18 | 53 - 26 | 4 - 6 | 13 - 3 | 13 - 9 | 0 - 0 |
| R3 | 29 - 20 | 53 - 38 | 6 - 5 | 13 - 9 | 10 - 6 | 0 - 0 |
| R4 | 35 - 35 | 61 - 60 | 15 - 18 | 9 - 11 | 11 - 6 | 0 - 0 |
| R5 | 62 - 18 | 103 - 49 | 27 - 11 | 22 - 1 | 13 - 6 | 1 - 0 |
| Total | 181 - 103 | 309 - 199 | 62 - 44 | 62 - 26 | 57 - 33 | 1 - 0 |
UFCalendar's totals match, and theScore and Yahoo Sports also report 181 to 103.
Every strike landed counted as significant and came at distance, with no takedown attempts and no control time. Holloway landed 59% to Gaethje's 52%, about 7.2 significant strikes a minute to 4.1, and out-landed him in every round but the fourth. The gap was widest to the body (62 to 26) and the legs (57 to 33). Gaethje's leg kicks were his most accurate weapon, 33 of 36, but Holloway landed more there too.
What the numbers cannot show is who was hurt. The official count has one knockdown, the last punch. It does not count Holloway going down in round 4, which six reports describe, or Gaethje going to a knee in round 3 in Sherdog's account.
How we scored it
| Round | MMA.SOCIAL | Why |
|---|---|---|
| R1 | 10-9 Holloway | 25-12 in significant strikes, 10-4 to the head, and the spinning kick at the horn. |
| R2 | 10-9 Holloway | 30-18 overall. Gaethje's 6-4 head count and nine leg kicks make Kamijo's card possible, not right. |
| R3 | 10-9 Holloway | 29-20, and Holloway hurt him with punches. |
| R4 | 10-9 Gaethje | Level at 35 each, 18-15 to the head and the knockdown the reports describe. Not 10-8: Holloway recovered and matched his output. |
| After four | 39-37 Holloway | The same as Cleary and D'Amato. |
| R5 | Holloway by KO | 62-18 in significant strikes before the finish; a clear 10-9 Holloway even without it. |
Our card matches Cleary, D'Amato and Sherdog's three scorers. Kamijo differs only in round 2, where we score Holloway's 30-18 volume over Gaethje's 6-4 head count. It did not matter: on every card Holloway needed only to finish on his feet.
That is why the point at the canvas is the story. With the decision in hand, he gave Gaethje, who had put him down a round earlier, ten seconds to win it. It worked, and the stoppage was correct: Gaethje was unconscious on the canvas. But Holloway did not need the knockout, and he could have lost a fight he had won.
Bonuses and what happened next
UFC 300's bonuses were $300,000 each instead of the usual $50,000, as GiveMeSport and MMA Junkie report. The fight won Fight of the Night for both men, and Holloway also took Performance of the Night, $600,000 in all, as MMA Junkie, Sherdog and GiveMeSport report; Jiri Prochazka took the other Performance bonus, according to MMA Junkie and MMA Payout. The result made Holloway 26-7 and Gaethje 25-5, as the Associated Press and the Star-Advertiser record.
"I'm him, guys," Holloway said, as CBS Sports and Yahoo Sports both print, and he asked for a shot at featherweight champion Ilia Topuria, as CBS, theScore and PostWrestling report. Of Gaethje he said: "He had everything to lose," in words Cageside Press and Sherdog both print, and, on his power: "I was getting hurt by the wind of his shots. That's how hard he hits." Gaethje posted the next day: "I'm in great spirits with my family. Thanks for all the love. What a sport." FanSided and The Mac Life both print the post.
Holloway got the title shot, and Topuria knocked him out in the third round at UFC 308 in October 2024, as theScore and the official record show. Back at lightweight he kept the BMF belt with a decision over Poirier at UFC 318 in July 2025, then lost it to Charles Oliveira at UFC 326 on March 7, 2026, 50-45 on all three cards, as theScore, PostWrestling and the official record show. On July 11, 2026, he beat Conor McGregor at welterweight at UFC 329, by TKO at 1:09 of the first round after McGregor's knee gave way, as UFC.com and the official record show.
Gaethje has not lost since, as theScore notes and the official record confirms. He beat Fiziev again at UFC 313 in March 2025, according to Cageside Press and the official record, won the interim title from Paddy Pimblett at UFC 324 in January 2026, and became undisputed champion when Topuria's corner stopped their fight after four rounds at UFC Freedom 250 on June 14, 2026, as theScore and ClutchPoints both report.
A rematch has been discussed: UFC.com's report on UFC 329 called it "top of mind" for the matchmakers, and LowKick MMA and MMA Sucka both listed it among Holloway's options. The official statistics, which run to the start of November 2026, show neither man fighting since, and we found no report of a booking.
The verdict
Holloway vs. Gaethje is not a disputed result. Holloway won three of the four scored rounds on two cards and on ours, out-landed Gaethje 181 to 103 and was winning the fifth clearly; Kamijo's level card changed nothing. What makes the fight famous is the choice at the end: with the decision won, Holloway gave Gaethje ten seconds to take it away and knocked him out in the last one. No fight in the official record has been stopped later.
Full fight stats: Gaethje vs. Holloway. The rest of the night: UFC 300. More: the most title fights in UFC history.
Sources
- UFCStats round-by-round statistics (scrape_ufc_stats mirror)
- UFCStats fight results, method and referee (scrape_ufc_stats mirror)
- UFC.com - UFC 300 official judges' scorecards
- UFC.com - UFC 300 main card results (E. Spencer Kyte)
- UFCalendar - Holloway vs. Gaethje result, judges, stats and odds
- GiveMeSport - The judges' scorecards for Holloway vs. Gaethje
- Sports-Statistics.com - Gaethje vs. Holloway round-by-round statistics
- CBS Sports - UFC 300 results: Holloway knocks out Gaethje in the last second
- CBS Sports - Last-second finishes in UFC history
- CBS Sports - Best of UFC in 2024: Knockout of the Year
- theScore - Holloway KOs Gaethje in final second to win BMF belt
- Cageside Press - Holloway KOs Gaethje in the final second of the BMF fight
- Cageside Press - Holloway: "If that's not a BMF moment I don't know what is"
- Cageside Press - MMA 2024 year in review: Knockout of the Year
- Sherdog - UFC 300 play-by-play, results and round scoring
- Sherdog - Holloway admits to feeling counted out before UFC 300
- Sherdog - 2024 Knockout of the Year
- Associated Press via Fox Sports - Holloway's last-second KO of Gaethje
- Star-Advertiser - Max Holloway records knockout to win UFC 300 fight
- Yahoo Sports - Holloway's KO sent a pulse through the MMA world
- Yahoo Sports - Holloway takes the BMF title at UFC 300
- MMA Junkie via Yahoo Sports - UFC 300 bonuses
- MMA Junkie via Yahoo Sports - Holloway's point to the canvas and Ricardo Lamas
- MMA Payout - Holloway makes $600K in UFC 300 bonuses
- LowKick MMA - Holloway wins the BMF title against Gaethje
- LowKick MMA - Gaethje closing as betting favorite against Holloway
- LowKick MMA - Holloway on Gaethje or Makhachev after UFC 329
- PostWrestling - UFC 300 results
- FanSided MMA - Gaethje's statement after losing the BMF title
- The Mac Life - Gaethje issues statement after UFC 300
- PostWrestling - UFC 318: Holloway beats Poirier
- theScore - Oliveira beats Holloway for the BMF title at UFC 326
- UFC.com - UFC 329 main card results
- PostWrestling - McGregor vs. Holloway announced for UFC 329
- MMA Sucka - Holloway on Gaethje's comments after UFC Freedom 250
- Cageside Press - Gaethje beats Fiziev at UFC 313
- theScore - Gaethje beats Topuria for the undisputed lightweight title
- ClutchPoints - Gaethje upsets Topuria at UFC Freedom 250
Questions
Who won Holloway vs. Gaethje?
Max Holloway, by knockout at 4:59 of the fifth round at UFC 300 on April 13, 2024. He took the BMF title from Justin Gaethje with a right hand one second before the end of the fight.
How much time was left when Holloway knocked out Gaethje?
One second. The official time is 4:59 of the fifth and final round. Holloway had pointed at the canvas to invite an exchange when the ten-second warning sounded.
What were the scorecards for Holloway vs. Gaethje before the knockout?
After four rounds Derek Cleary and Sal D'Amato had Holloway ahead 39-37, and Junichiro Kamijo had it 38-38. Kamijo gave Gaethje rounds 2 and 4; the other two judges gave Gaethje only round 4.
Could Gaethje have won on the scorecards?
No. A 10-9 fifth round for Gaethje would still have lost him a split decision, and even a 10-8 would only have produced a majority draw. He needed a finish, and Holloway out-landed him 62 to 18 in significant strikes in the fifth round.
Why did Holloway point to the floor against Gaethje?
To invite Gaethje to stand and trade for the last ten seconds, a gesture that goes back to his 2016 fight with Ricardo Lamas. He said afterwards that Gaethje would have done the same for him if the cards had been the other way round.
How much did Holloway make in bonuses at UFC 300?
$600,000. UFC 300 bonuses were $300,000 each, and Holloway won Fight of the Night with Gaethje and Performance of the Night. Gaethje took $300,000 for Fight of the Night.
