Max Holloway went to absolute war against former BMF champion Justin Gaethje at UFC 300. Now, of course, the title belongs to ‘Blessed’ who put up an absolute show during the mega pay-per-view put together by Dana White.

Did Holloway walk away unscathed? No, that would have never been possible given Gaethje’s reputation for carnage and his knack for bringing all the striking prowess to the game. Now, after defeating the ‘Highlight’, Holloway has spoken up about dealing with the damage.

Max Holloway ate a kick but it wasn’t easy

Max Holloway was the first one to land a significant kick. The spinning back kick in the last seconds of the first round destroyed Gaethje’s nose and it probably affected him throughout the matchup. Of course, that didn’t mean the former BMF champ was going to stop things from going down.

In the latter rounds, Gaethje managed to land kicks to Holloway’s body and the sounds of them could be heard throughout the packed T-Mobile Arena. Holloway recently sat down for an interview and talked about the said kicks and just how powerful they were.

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“He hits hard don’t get me wrong. . .” Holloway said about Gaethje’s punches. “. . .but his kicks brother that guy kicks like a donkey or something. I don’t know what… Kangaroo coming off his tail. The guy kicks hard.” Clearly, Holloway has felt the pain in his body after the BMF fight.

However, this won’t stop him from coming back soon. Max Holloway joked that he just needs about 2-3 weeks’ rest away from the cage to come back and he has a few names in his mind to challenge too. In fact, champions from two different divisions have been put on alert by the new BMF champ.

Holloway to take on Topuria or Makhachev

Max Holloway was quick to call out Ilia Topuria who was present in the stands watching him put Justin Gaethje down. Topuria’s reaction during and after the knockout was that of being in a stunned state and perhaps it was even more intense when Holloway called him out.

“All I’ve got to say is that I’m him, I’m him guys!” Holloway announced in the post-fight interview. “There’s an El Matador [and] he’s running away from a bull at 145lbs – tell him to sign the contract! Spain, Hawaii, wherever!” Even Islam, Islam is famous for defending against ’45ers right? I’m him, I’m right here!”

Islam Makhachev is now scheduled to defend his title against Dustin Poirier at UFC 302 in June. So that fight remains unlikely to go down anytime soon. However, the Topuria fight makes all the sense, given that the UFC would want to cash in on Holloway’s BMF stature and Topuria’s newfound stardom in Spain.

The Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid boasts an 85,000 seating capacity. Holloway vs. Topuria in the UFC’s maiden outing to Spain could very well sell out Read Madrid’s home arena. If that happens this year, who are you backing to walk away from the Spanish capital city with the UFC featherweight belt?