Deja vu pointing to Max Holloway's canvas against Ricardo Lamas

If you're among the masses who think the BMF title fight earlier this month was one of the greatest matches in history, you might have an unexpected person to thank.

At UFC 300, Max Holloway (26-7 MMA, 22-7 UFC) points to the canvas and points Justin Gaethje (25-5 MMA, 8-5 UFC) to the fence in the final 10 seconds. It all started when he invited him to take a swing, a move that will go down as one of the most dramatic moments in MMA history. Holloway, who had already won the five-round fight on the scorecards, connected with Gaethje and called him out with one second left in the 25-minute fight.

The fact that it was for the title of “BMF” and between two fighters known for waging the proverbial war made it even more perfect. But one of Holloway's past opponents would like to flip through the history books a bit.

Holloway did the same thing about eight years ago when Ricardo Lamas fought him at UFC 199. He was on his way to a sweep on the scorecards, but near the end he pointed to the floor and started throwing with Lamas. And that, Lamas says, laid the foundation for a moment in MMA history.

“I want to say everyone is welcome because I was the one who brought Max Holloway to that moment,” Lamas recently told MMA Junkie Radio. “You can hear Max talk about it. He actually did an interview with Demetrius Johnson and threw some shade at me a little bit, but he told me he loved me, so… , it's okay. I love you too, Max – in the third round of the fight, I kept waving, and he said, finally, in the last 10 seconds. He pointed to the ground and decided to put his hand out and say, “I have a chance to do it.''

“But he made it look like I did that because he didn't think we were really fighting. I knew I was behind on the scorecards. I was going to lose that fight. And in my head, late in that third round, I was like, “Listen, the only chance I have right now is to placate him and get him into a brawl and hopefully get him in some way. “That's what he does,” Gaethje said. That's what I was hoping for, but it didn't work out. ”

It was Holloway's ninth consecutive win. This led him to an interim featherweight title fight against Anthony Pettis in late 2016, which he won. The following year, he became perhaps the greatest featherweight of all time at the time when he KO'd Jose Aldo to unify the 145 pound titles and defeated him in a rematch.

And while Lamas doesn't think Holloway wouldn't have gotten to this point without the final 10 seconds of the 2016 game, he doesn't see why it doesn't happen more often.

“We created that epic moment, and it took 199, so it took 101 UFC pay-per-views to recreate it,” Lamas said. “But they got it done in the end and he gave it the perfect ending. I couldn't think of a better ending to the fight for the 'BMF' title than what happened. ”

Lamas said situations like the one with Holloway gave the game an interesting feel.

“It’s clear tunnel vision,” he said. “I couldn't hear the crowd till the end, like when the game was over. The bell rang and the crowd almost roared, but it was definitely tunnel vision and in my head I was thinking, 'Don't fall. I couldn't think of much else other than, “I hope my punches hit the mark.''

“…I'll be patiently waiting for my 10% finder's fee to create that moment with Max. So Max, if you need my address, DM me and I'll send it to you.”

Holloway won the Performance of the Night bonus and Fight of the Night at the historic UFC 300, but for this fight the bonuses were increased to a symbolic $300,000 instead of $50,000 each. . He earned $600,000 in bonuses for one night, well exceeding the $1 million he earned in his UFC career.

Lamas has three bonuses in his UFC career, including one for a submission of lightweight champion Charles Oliveira after bouncing back from a loss to Holloway. Lamas retired after defeating Bill Algeo in 2020.