Max Holloway could participate in the UFC Hall of Fame before his career is over.
Last month the BMF champion of the UFC became the first hunter to defend the 'worst mother' when he withdrew Dustin Poirier to a five-round war on UFC 318.
Holloway defeated his old rival through a unanimous decision in New Orleans, and reinintered into the lightweight title interview. But before he did, Holloway Poirier gave the chance to turn him out, pointing to the ground in the last 10 seconds to wave him up.
Poirier eventually opted for the striking exchange by achieving Holloway, not wanting to 'go out' as Justin Gaethje did when he entertained the Point-Down at UFC 300 the previous year.
Holloway has certainly capitalized on his BMF moments, so that the logo of his personal brand points down a hand with a finger down.
As you might remember, Holloway's first point-down did not take place against Gaethje, but instead Ricardo Lamas, years ago in the featherweight division.
Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty images
Ricardo Lamas wants to fight UFC 199 with Max Holloway in Hall of Fame because of 'Point-Down'
Holloway fought former title -Uitdager Lamas in three rounds at UFC 199 in 2016 in Inglewood, California.
Lamas was on the jury's scorecards in the last round of the game. When the Clapper left to indicate that there were another 10 seconds left, Holloway stood in the middle of the octagon and pointed to the canvas.
Lamas accepted the challenge of Holloway and threw down with the fighting Hawaiian, exchanged strikes until the bell sounded. Holloway eventually got the unanimous decision about Lamas in a heavily fought victory.
Reflecting on the Holloway scrap -scrap almost ten years later, Lamas says that it should be initiated into the fighting wing of the UFC Hall of Fame.
“I didn't do that,” said Lamas Bloody Elbow, when he was asked if he thought Holloway's point-down would be as big as it is today.
“When I and how we fought, it was the first time he did it in every fight,” Lamas explained.
“You can also ask him. I persuaded it a bit from him in that third round. I knew that I was on the score cards that went in the third, so I am just like, God, this third round, I was not really hit with shots that rocked me or what,” Lamas said.
“So I am so, the last chance I have is perhaps pulling him in a firefight and trying to connect with something big … Then the 10 seconds Clapper went off, and then you see him pointing to the ground, and then I finally go. I am like, yes, you know, let's go.
“It was great,” Lamas said about the point of Holloway to him.
“It was something you can't get without both hunters. I still wait for my 10% committee,” Lamas joked.
“Because Max, he did a great job and to just take it and to run with it and to be fun, to continue to do it in the rest of his fights. It paid off. UFC 300, you could not have asked for a better main event for the BMF title to end that way, and then scored the Knock -Out of the fight.
The former Challenger title continued.
“It would not have been there without the fight with me and him. So I think UFC should place it in the Hall of Fame,” suggested Lamas.
Where is Ricardo Lamas now?
Lamas, a 17-Vecht UFC veteran, withdrew from MMA at the age of 38.
Lamas ended his fighting career with a win and Bill Algeo defeated a unanimous decision on UFC Vegas 8 in August 2020.
While he retired from the competition, 43-year-old Lamas Bloody Elbow said that he is busier than ever his own UFC sports school in Naperville, Illinois, the next generation of hunters coaching.
“As a competitor you are a bit exclusively focused on yourself,” said Lamas.
“It is a kind of a very one -sided situation. You are focused on your own training, what you have to do to get better.
“Being a coach is a bit the opposite. You have to be a bit selfless. And now you just work on your hunters and improve them. It's all about the hunter and no longer about you.
“Making that mentality is shifting a bit into the game,” Lamas said about how he switched from a UFC hunter to a coach.