Max Holloway impressed the entire world when he defeated Justin Gaethje with a KO punch in the last second of the last round at UFC 300. It was an iconic moment that had ‘Blessed’ winning the Fight of the Night bonus of $600K, as well as the Performance of the Night bonus. The BMF battle lived up to the hype created for UFC 300. And Holloway’s last moment KO win was the reason why fans continued to talk about the 2024’s biggest UFC event for a long time. Despite being laden with superstars, Holloway was the one who made the event most memorable. And now, ‘Blessed’ has different requirements from performance bonuses.

During a recent conversation with Mike Bohn, Holloway claimed, “UFC is about moments. If you go out there and make a moment, just like with [UFC] 300 – we have the chance to make moments.” And that’s what he wants to repeat in his upcoming fight against Dustin Poirier at UFC 318. It’s going to be the Cajun fighter’s final fight in the UFC. No doubt, Poirier and Holloway will try to make it memorable. ‘Blessed’ went on, “If I can go out there [against Poirier], get a moment, and make everybody excited about it, who’s to say I’m not fighting for a title come the end of the year or early next year?” And that’s when the conversation focused on UFC’s debut in the White House in 2026. 

Bohn pointed out that people have already started betting on who is most likely to get the fight at the White House. And Holloway’s odds were +300, which were the highest in the list, right after Poirier. Reacting to that, the BMF champion said, “My first-ever kickboxing fight, amateur kickboxing fight, was in a lawn. So, why not to headline a fight at the White House in a lawn, bro, would be ridiculous, man. And that’s be huge, man. I mean, +300…” His words faded when he wondered about the odds of the other fighters on the list. 

Bohn listed out, “Dustin Poirier, the highest, +250; Max Holloway, +300; Sean O’Malley, +400; Justin Gaethje, +450; Sean Strickland, +600; Jon Jones, +800; Merab Dvalishvili, +1000; Conor McGregor, +1000, Paddy Pimblett, +1200, Tom Aspinall, +1400, and Islam Makhachev, +2000, and Ilia +2500.” Since ‘The Diamond’ is going to retire after UFC 318, his stance on the list of possible fighters at the UFC White House card didn’t really matter. 

Max Holloway continued, “Getting to be able to do that would be huge, man, you know.” But his expectations from the performance bonus were something else. He said, “And then hopefully, they do something like, maybe, the bonus is like you don’t pay taxes or something, for a pay-per-view, right? Instead of taking money, just be like, ‘Yeah, no taxes for this year for the Performance of the Night winner, bro. H— yeah, please.”

Now, the question remained—Who would the BMF champion go up against if he won against Dustin Poirier? Max Holloway has an answer to that, and it points to the lightweight championship title. 

Max Holloway expects to fight Ilia Topuria next

Not too long ago, Holloway announced that he would never go back to the featherweight division. And staying at the lightweight division would definitely get him a chance to redeem himself in a rematch against Ilia Topuria, the only fighter to have ever knocked him out. Expressing his desire to fight for the lightweight belt during an interview with MMA Junkie, the 33-year-old said, “I was over the moon. A lot of people thought I’d be like, ‘What the hell? Why is he coming to ’55?’ I was over the moon when he announced he was coming to ’55, and when I found out he was getting the title shot, I was like, ‘Oh my God.’ Even the title shot for both of them.”

‘El Matador’ became the lightweight champion by defeating Charles Oliveira with a first-round knockout at UFC 317. This struck a motivational note in Holloway’s mind. ‘Blessed’ continued, “When they announced Oliveira and Topuria with the title shot, brother, I think I was the happiest man alive. I have history with the two guys. They’re figuring out my fight. I mean, we have this BMF title. I know old boy (Topuria) likes walking around with the BMF title, but if he wants the authentic one, he knows where to find me. First thing’s first: There’s Dustin Poirier, but there’s a lot of history.”

The fight between Holloway and Poirier would mark the completion of the trilogy. But will Holloway be able to secure a win over ‘The Diamond’? That’s something that’d have to see on the eve of UFC 318. But do let us know what you think of the matchup and Holloway’s demand for the performance bonus.