UFC veteran Joe Rogan had a first at tonight’s UFC 300. The 56-year-old, like fight fans around the world, leaped out of his seat after Max Holloway dethroned Justin Gaethje to become the BMF. Video footage showcased the commentator’s awed reaction and lent weight to his post-fight words. Rogan sang the praises of ‘Blessed’ as the fighter did not seem eager to just have his hand raised and secure the win bonus; he wanted more and enhanced the rich legacy of ‘The Fight Capital of The World’.

During the final moments of the broadcast, after the fights were done, Joe Rogan was going over the BMF fight result with fellow commentators Daniel Cormier and Jon Anik. “Give Max Holloway five bonuses… Give him everything he wants, give him Ilia Topuria, give him Islam Makhachev. Give him whoever he wants. The fact that he did it this way too…”

Max Holloway received two bonuses (Performance of the Night and Fight of the Night), to make an additional $600,000. Although five were not on the cards, few may disagree with the veteran commentator’s sentiment after witnessing a barnburner.

Despite being up on the scorecards and cruising to victory with 10 seconds left, ‘Blessed’ challenged his opponent to a firefight in the center of the octagon. ‘The Highlight’ obliged and fell victim to a clean strike with just a second left on the clock. The cruising to victory may have come to light later, but the two fighters would not have had an idea of what the three judges were awarding them. Max Holloway may not have wanted to take the risk, which makes audiences wonder whether Joe Rogan’s words of praise were due to his stance on win bonuses.

Rogan had said on his podcast in 2018, “I just don’t like the win bonus. I don’t think anybody fights harder for it. … That to me is a real issue… (I don’t like) the idea that your win or loss has to be in the hands of what we have deemed completely incompetent judges.”To Rogan’s defense, his primary concern here seems to be ‘incompetent’ judges. Fortunately for the commentator, and everyone who was watching, Max Holloway did not leave anything in their hands, which earned raves from Dana White.

The UFC CEO got giddy as he described Max Holloway’s dominant performance over the lightweight after coming in as an underdog. After revealing ‘Blessed’ was outside on the phone with Justin Gaethje, he said, “Tonight totally embodied what that belt was built for and there should be a picture of that fight in the f**king dictionary when you look up BMF. It was incredible… That fight sucked the f**king life out of everybody tonight… I sell holy-sh** moments for a living. That was the ultimate holy-sh** moment of all time… One second left and a knockout like that. That’s like movie sh**.”

With this victory, Max Holloway has not only reiterated his status as a UFC legend, but opened a lot of doors for himself.

Ilia Topuria accepts Max Holloway’s call-out

After his UFC 300 heroics, Max Holloway called out Ilia Topuria and even challenged reigning 155-pound champion Islam Makhachev. With his victory over Gaethje, whom Makhachev had expressed interest in facing, ‘Blessed’ has made a strong case for a lightweight title shot as well.

However, given that the Dagestani will face Dustin Poirier next and with no shortage of future challengers in the division (like Arman Tsarukyan, who defeated Charles Oliveira on the same card), that seems like a more unlikely prospect than the new BMF facing Topuria next.

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Especially given the fact that Ilia Topuria has accepted the call-out. “Everything is clear for me. My next fight will be against Max Holloway. Congratulations to him and enjoy tonight. But after the fight with me, he will have a long time to get back in line,” he said.

In a tweet the next day, Topuria congratulated ‘Blessed’ but warned him of the consequences of their potential title clash. As per the 15-0 Spaniard, he will be the first to finish the Hawaiian in the sport of MMA.

Max Holloway replied, “It’s all love champ. I’ll be seeing you soon. Jeremiah 51:20.” Both superstars adding Bible verses to their ultimatums add to the theatrics and set the stage for a thrilling featherweight title clash. What are your thoughts about this fight happening next at 145 lbs? Let us know in the comments below.