Max Holloway recalls the first time he used signature point down and why he did it

Although the BMF title has received its criticism since its inception in 2019, ‘Blessed’ and ‘Do Bronx’ are two fighters who epitomize what the belt signifies.

And one way Holloway has earned his reputation as one of the baddest fighters on the planet, is because of his signature point down.

Max Holloway’s signature point down came from his opponent taunting him

When Holloway first won the BMF title, it came in the craziest fashion possible as he knocked out Justin Gaethje with just one second left of their fight after pointing down at the ground.

However, although that was on the grandest of stages having come at UFC 300, that wasn’t the first time the 34-year-old afforded his opponent a huge chance by pointing down and swinging it out.

Back in 2016, ‘Blessed’ clashed against Ricardo Lamas at UFC 199, and dominated the three round fight, winning all three rounds.

But despite being ahead in the fight, in the final moments, for the first time in his career, Holloway pointed down at the ground and invited Lamas to slug it out with him.

“This is the first time I did it, yes,” Holloway told UFC on TNT Sports whilst recalling the fight.

“First time I did it, yeah, against Ricardo Lamas. I mean, I broke down the fight before, I felt like I was up clearly and he was kind of frustrated and he kind of taunted me like three times in the fight and then, you know, it’s like baseball, three strikes and you’re out.

“So I gave him a chance and he obliged. It takes two to tango, and he did it, so that was awesome. I come from the West side of O’ahu and we’re scrappers and it’s just the warrior spirit I guess, the warrior spirit that’s in me that I want to show the world.”

Holloway often gets blamed when fighters try to mimic point down

Although it was Holloway who made the point down famous, since then, several fighters have attempted to mimic his success by doing it in their fights.

But because it never ends similarly to how Holloway’s fights do, ‘Blessed’ gets the blame from the fans when other fighters misuse it.

“I get a couple of hundred tweets that say ‘What the hell Max? You ruined the sport!’, I’m like, it’s not my fault. It’s very clear, once you point down there’s no stepping back, no takedowns, no clinching,” he told Spinnin Backfist.

With the BMF title on the line on Saturday night, the signature point down is likely to be pulled out by either fighter, in what guarantees to be an incredible fight.