7/1/26
Holloway’s Signature Move
A new rule has touched down in the world of MMA, and it didn’t have to go through an athletic commission, a law, or even Dana White himself. Max Holloway has implemented his “point down rules” and laid out how it should work moving forward. Max Holloway is one of the most exciting fighters the UFC has ever seen and an all-time great. The past few years, he has set a trend that has taken over the MMA world with his patented “point down”. The first time he did this was against Ricardo Lamas back in 2016.
For context, in a fight that Max was winning, he decided to put it all on the line in the final ten seconds and challenged Lamas to a standing brawl where both would swing as hard and wildly as they could until the fight was over. Lamas obliged, and it became an iconic moment in the career of Holloway. This was the first instance, but the most famous was at UFC 300, where Holloway faced off against now lightweight champion Justin Gaethje. Max moved up a weight class to take this fight, and many fans doubted that he could get it done against someone as powerful as Gaethje. However, Holloway put on a masterclass fight and pieced Gaethje up for five rounds. Those last ten seconds came, and once again Holloway pointed to the mat and gave Gaethje the signal.
What came next may just be the greatest knockout in UFC history, as with one second left in the fifth round, Holloway hit Gaethje with a combination followed by a big right hand that put him out cold. In the biggest UFC card ever at the time, you could not ask for a more amazing moment to happen in the sport. The knockout itself was unbelievable, but paired with the fact that Holloway was dominantly winning the fight and still chose to swing until the end with one of the biggest punchers in the sport is stuff of legends. This single fight then pushed Holloway into title contention and boosted his already legendary career.
The Trend
The fight did something else as well though, it made fighters from every weight class, ranked or unranked want to have a highlight moment like that. Many fighters towards the end of their bouts started to do the “point down” but it never had the same affect and most of the time both fighters did not fully commit. Often times one fighter would kind of brawl while the other didn’t move or just avoided shots. Some even going for takedowns which defeats the whole purpose. What makes Holloway so great is that he always does it when he is winning the fight and he fully commits to throwing caution to the wind and laying it all on the line. Even if it meant he would get knocked out in the process but it hasn’t happened yet. Due to this new trend, Holloway implemented rules for the point down that fighters must follow if they want to take after the pioneer.
The Rules
- The gesture can only happen in the final 10 seconds of a fight and must be initiated by the fighter who is winning
- Once initiated, fighters must stand and trade heavy exchanges. Neither fighter is permitted to step back, attempt a takedown (“shoot”), or clinch.
These are now seemingly the “official rules” of the point down and if not followed then it doesn’t count in the eyes of fans and fighters alike. Holloway has made his career off moments like this and he does it in every fight he has that goes the distance. There is no one more qualified to give out and create the rules for a moment like this. If a fighter dare attempts a point down then the MMA world will be watching and holding them to this new found standard. Holloway is scheduled to fight Connor McGregor at UFC 329 on July 11th. A point down and last second brawl between the two could go down as an iconic moment in the sport and hopefully the fans get to see it happen.
