Max Holloway skyrocketed up the UFC rankings after scoring an impressive knockout win over Justin Gaethje at UFC 300.
“Blessed” continued to perform well, outboxing his opponent for five rounds until he sent his opponent tumbling face-first onto the canvas with one second remaining.
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Holloway KOs Gaethje at UFC 300 Credit: Getty
Holloway was rewarded for his heroics, receiving a $600,000 bonus from UFC CEO Dana White and moving up six spots to No. 8 in the pound-for-pound ratings updated Monday morning. .
He also entered No. 9 in the lightweight rankings for the first time, six positions behind Gaethje despite knocking him out last weekend.
When Holloway faced Gaethje for the BMF (Baddest Motherf***er) belt, “The Highlight” was ranked No. 2 in the lightweight division.
Typically, when a fighter defeats another ranked competitor, they earn that spot, or at least leapfrog them in the list.
However, this was not the case, as Gaethje dropped from second to third place, with only Charles Oliveira and Arman Tsarukyan placed in front of him.
This puzzling decision likely has something to do with the fact that Holloway has only fought twice (1-1) at 155 pounds in the UFC to date – his other fight was against Dustin in 2019. -He lost by unanimous decision to Poirier.
Regardless of whether Holloway ranks in the top three at lightweight, his stock is certainly on the rise.
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Despite his loss to Holloway, Gaethje is ranked higher than Holloway in the lightweight division.Credit: Getty
His knockout went viral on social media and was viewed millions of times around the world.
He also maintains his No. 2 spot in the featherweight rankings and is in prime position to next challenge Ilya Topria for the 145-pound belt.
Elsewhere in the rankings, Aljamain Sterling moves into the top 15 featherweight division at No. 8 with his win over Calvin Kattar at UFC 300, while Diego Lopez joins the top 15 at No. 14 after stopping Sodiq Yousaf on the same card. Ta.
Deiveson Figueiredo moves up two spots in the bantamweight division, Tatiana Suarez and Yang Xiaonan swap places at the top of the strawweight rankings, and Jiri Prochaska becomes the No. 1 contender for Alex Pereira’s light heavyweight title. Ta.
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