Holloway laughs off Gaethje's 'moral win' claim but praises his stunning Topuria upset

Max Holloway is focused on Conor McGregor at UFC 329, but the former featherweight champion took time to address Justin Gaethje’s claim that beating Ilia Topuria for the undisputed lightweight title somehow settles the score between them — and he wasn’t buying it.

Gaethje, speaking to Jim Rome after his stunning upset of Topuria at the UFC White House card, suggested the Topuria win effectively cancelled out the knockout Holloway delivered with one second remaining at UFC 300 — one of the most dramatic finishes in MMA history. “Max definitely knocked me out,” Gaethje said. “But I feel like I got that win back with the Ilia Topuria fight.”

Holloway, appearing on behalf of Stake, was amused but unconvinced by the logic. “I saw [Justin Gaethje] saying, too, and I had no idea about if you [get a win over] somebody [else], you beat them,” Holloway said. “Technically, I beat Conor McGregor because I bust Dustin [Poirier], if that’s what he’s saying. At the end of the day, all jokes aside, it is what it is.”

Despite the gentle ribbing, Holloway was genuinely full of admiration for how Gaethje dismantled Topuria — a fighter who had carried an air of invincibility into the bout. The Hawaiian admitted he did not pick Gaethje to win, but felt the challenger’s path to victory, if it existed, would look something like what unfolded.

“People counting Justin out, I was tripping out,” Holloway said. “I didn’t have Justin winning but I thought if Justin could win, he would have to do it that way. I thought he was going to have kicks more involved but he did it with his hands. He proved me wrong.”

Holloway reserved particular awe for the moment Gaethje absorbed a devastating body shot and kept fighting. “Even surviving — surviving that body shot. What a demon. Congrats to the champ.”

The praise was pointed, too. Holloway noted how rare it is to watch a fighter widely considered unbeatable suddenly get beaten — a dynamic he clearly found both instructive and galvanising ahead of his own high-stakes main event.

Gaethje, for his part, has said he plans to watch UFC 329 from the front row and admitted he “would love to punch Conor McGregor in the face” — a comment Holloway appears content to set aside for now, with his full attention on dispatching McGregor first.