Holloway won the “BMF” title with one of the most violent knockouts in UFC history.
In the dying seconds of the fight, Holloway swung to the center and planted kind Gaethje in the face, knocking him unconscious – with 1 second left in round 5.
In round one, both fighters were perhaps more cautious than expected. Holloway showed calculated patience and a beautiful points fight, but Gaethje came back with some hard boxing of his own.
The decisive moment occurred at the end of the first round. As the horn blared, Holloway landed a jumping back kick. The heel dug into Gaethje's nose and Gaethje held him in the face as he backed into the corner. The damage was obvious as Cutman tended to him between rounds.
Things got even worse for Gaethje in round two. As if not being able to breathe wasn't bad enough, Holloway poked Gaethje twice, once in each eye. Referee Mark Goddard called timeouts for each foul, but no points were scored.
In round three, Holloway landed some hard shots. Gaethje struggled to find a rhythm. Holloway clearly had the advantage in terms of speed.
The fourth round broke the monotony of Holloway's hitting show and things got a little more interesting. Gaethje landed a right hand that took Holloway down. This was the first knockdown scored against Holloway in his career.
Before the fifth round, coach Trevor Whitman tried to encourage fighter Gaethje, calling for aggression throughout the final five minutes.
But Holloway flipped the script and surprised Gaethje with his violent, speed-changing combinations. Holloway drilled him with two punches to the body, but Gaethje remained upright and continued to swing at Holloway.
In the final seconds, Holloway rewinded time to his famous swing-for-the-fences moment with Ricardo Lamas in 2016, only this time a different ending was in store. Holloway stunned Gaethje with a powerful overhand right.
Holloway, 32, extended his winning streak to three, including victories over Arnold Allen and Chan Sung-jeong.
Gaethje, 35, is on a two-fight winning streak. He started winning streaks over Rafael Fiziev and Poirier.
