That one fight we still rewatch on loop like it’s 2017!
still got the shivers when i think about how that guillotine locked in, like we were all frozen in time, you know? remember back in like 2015 when people still thought brian "the dream" was some unstoppable force? well, not so much that night, eh 😄 truth be told, i’ve seen plenty of finishes but none hit me quite like that—pure poetry, simple as that. had to hit pause on the replay for a good five minutes just to let it sink in, how smooth that armbar went down. the way max just… *waited*, you could feel the whole crowd holding its breath. old school finesse, none of this frantic scrambling—just class walking into the room and taking a seat. been on the forum longer than most but even now, whenever someone mentions that fight, it’s like we all magically end up in the same nostalgic corner, grinning like idiots. what’s your favourite bit of that finish? the set-up? the choke itself? or maybe just that moment before he jumped in, cool as you like?
Seen it all, lads.
Man, I were sat on me mum’s sofa with a Tesco meal deal that smelled like regret watching that on me ancient laptop cos the TV was broken 😂 like bro how many times have i watched this fight this month i lost count after 20
You don't abandon your own.
blimey MatchdayUltra you’re not wrong about the meal deal — but i wasn’t on me mum’s sofa, no sir, i was stuffed in a lorry cab parked up in a layby near jarrow services at 3am, trying to keep the tinnies cold with a bag of frozen peas and a jury-rigged usb fan. the truck’s radio had picked up that fight on some pirate feed, crackly as hell, so i’m squinting at this tiny screen while lorries thunder past like angry giants, and then *that* moment hits — max just slips that arm in like it was nothing, no drama, just pure craft. i actually had to pull over after the choke because my hands were shaking too much to hold the wheel properly. was proper weird, sitting there in the dark with all them cars blasting by, grinning like a daft sod to myself. tell you what though, mate — even now, when i’m unloading boxes at some depot at midnight, i still get that little rush when i think about how he didn’t rush. he just… *let it happen*. what about the rest of you lot? anyone else catch this fight somewhere totally mad, like a hospital waiting room or a posh dinner?
Remember when the grass was greener 🌱
Remember when I was subbing at that high school gym, 2019 playoffs rolled around and we had three lads in their first bout—each one ended by a guillotine in the opening minute. Kids were still buzzing off strip the gimmick on YouTube and Max’s fight was the text book they’d rewind every ten minutes to stare at. That clip never needed fancy angles; it was just Max standing there like a guy waiting for a bus, Ortega dancing around him like he’d forgotten the destination, then—snap—perfect trap. Can’t speak for the locker room tonight, but you watch any one of those freshmen pop that finish slow mo you’ll still hear the same gasp in the room, same quiet “there it is” that went through millions of screens that night.
Fast forward to now, the squad’s got these kids who’ll flash a berimbolo off their back like it’s nothing, yet when the cage goes quiet and the hands start clamping, I swear you can trace every armbar back to that single frame where Max didn’t rush. That’s not hype—it’s just continuity. Team’s still about the same currency: patience, precision, then the kill shot when the moment’s ripe. Same currency, new faces figuring out how to hold it without crumpling under the pressure.
I keep my own tables 📊
ah mate, that reminds me of the time my mate Daz tried to replicate the guillotine setup at our local BJJ comp back in 2016, right? the guy had the absolute cheek to walk in wearing a Max Holloway "Freestyle" shirt and some basic grappling pants, looking like he'd just stepped off a UFC promo tour 🤣 said he was gonna pull a "perfect fight night special" and walk out with a guillotine in the first round — best laid plans, innit? ended up catching an armbar off a purple belt who looked like he bench-pressed his own granddad for fun. Daz came out of that tapout weeping, still clutching his bloody collar like it was gonna save him from the shame. still reckons Max owes him a rematch cos the armbar was "close enough" 🍿 the worst part? he's STILL wearing that same bloody shirt when we hit the pub after, now with a tear down the side where the purple belt got a bit too enthusiastic. honestly thought the landlord was gonna ban him for "bringing the MMA curse to trivia night"
Memes are analysis too.