Did Max increase his power with the additional weight?

[Portland8242]

I think Gaethje being exhausted was a huge part of it... Mouth open from the nose, half blind...

That takes nothing away from Max, but a KO with that punch is only happening in the fight.

Apparently taking an eye poke with a broken nose makes it much worse, one of the fighters said something like this. That eye poke in the 2nd round you can tell REALLY bothered Gaethje.

 

[Gamer2k4]

One strike that really seemed to hurt Gaethje was that spinning back kick. That was somewhat surprising.

You try getting kicked in the nose and see how it affects you. Heck, just have someone smack you in the nose with an open palm and I bet you'd still see stars.

 

[Pilo]

You try getting kicked in the nose and see how it affects you. Heck, just have someone smack you in the nose with an open palm and I bet you'd still see stars.

Oh that's for damn sure!

What I found surprising wasn't that it hurt Gaethje, but rather, that Holloway managed to use it so well, land it to Gaethje's face a few times, and to the body as well, not as an occasional flashy tool to show off, but as a super effective technique to hurt his opponent.

 

[IloveTHIS]

Justin has taken a ton of damage and took shitton in that fight. The broken nose really altered how the fight went. I also think Max learned a lot from his beatdown to Dustin and altered how he fought. Came in with something to prove and really sat down on his shots

 

[KoreanZawmbie]

His power definitely did increase. Its also the accumulation of damages. Looked like he broke Gaethje's nose at he end of the first round. And by the final seconds, Gaethje was exhausted and battered so Max, who is really not a power puncher was able to KO Gaethje

JG seemed energetic enough to attempt that rolling thunder kick at the end of the round. I think thats what prompted Max to call him out to the center of the cage, like, 'oh yea? you wanna pull some dumb shit like that, lets stand and bang here then bruddah.' lol.

 

[KoreanZawmbie]

That gaping jaw due to the broken nose had as much to do with the KO as added power, maybe more.

Not discrediting it at all, the point is to wear them down and finish them, but that nose and Justin having to breathe out his mouth had a big part in it.

funny considering that Max landed that punch squared on his face not jaw.

 

[Preston broadus]

That punch would Ko most, especially after 5 rounds of fighting.

 

[cshireman4]

Unlikely. He's a death by a thousand paper cuts kind of guy. Justin's nose was broken and he was letting them fly in that last exchange. Mouth wide open to breath and in a vulnerable position. One hell of a performance, but I'd still take Gaethje in a rematch. Spinning back kick and Justin's complete unwillingness to wrestle set the stage for the rest of the fight imo

 

[ChickenBrother]

It's notable that Holloway and Gaethje are the only elite MMA strikers (other than Garbrandt I believe) with a negative ape index i.e. smaller reach than height. Both are 5' 11" but Max has 69" reach and Gaethje has 70" reach. While Max is still rangy enough to fight from the outside against FWs, I think he benefited from Gaethje's brawling style which negates reach as a factor.

 

[blaseblase]

Both Gaethje and KZ got KO'd by Max because they dropped their defenses and engaged in a brawl.

 

[ipowerslapmywife]

Justin was already pretty hurt and had his mouth wide open during the KO.

 

[TempleoftheDog]

Several different factors played into that fight. The biggest one, imo was the kick to the nose at the end of round 1.

It affected Justin negatively for the rest of the fight. The breathing, and seeing Justin show actual pain several times after that point when his nose got touched.

Max said he gameplanned that kick based on watching film. He said Justin dips his head like that. And Max timed the shit out of it. That’s why he kept doing it. And the damage just kept piling up.

And it appeared to me that Max was using increasing power to his punches. As in sitting down on them a little more as the fight went on. And Justin took one punch too many.

Max was amazing in that fight. There were many factors that went into his performance in that fight.

 

[Barteh]

Yeah, bc he had enough power at the end of 5 rounds to put Gaethje out cold. I suppose it helped that he was putting everything he had left into those punches at the end though and had softened Gaethje up throughout the fight.

The broken nose and therefore open mouth is a real killer in that kinda situation too.

 

[WoozyFailGuy]

Not really. If you look in the fighter weight cut thread, Max is one of the largest cutters in the UFC, and a rare one no one has ever complained about or called a weight bully (rightfully so, Max will fight anyone in a war regardless of size). I don't think it added any power to him, but it added a bit of durability.

He had to hit Just in with everything to put him out and we know he naturally has a little less power than most guys, but like the Diaz's, if he keeps touching you, you're going to fall eventually.

I think he gets a 20% power boost if someone obliges him to swang and bang in the middle of the octagon.

 

[Killer Kadoogan]

max looked bigger, just as big as gaethje IMO, no flab, all muscle. but he's never been a power puncher, that was more of an accumulation of damage, borken nose, eye pokes, many strikes, and a gaethje who was utterly flustered, concussed, tired, trying to find his hail mary punch. blessed max.

 

[FlyingDeathKick]

Max doesn't swing like that typically, he's a volume guy but will mix in some hard shots and a few times has done that stand and bang at the very end thing. Zombie went Wild against Max in a kill or be killed type of attack and Max put his lights out. Gaethje chose to swing with Max and got put to sleep. I do believe he has more power than he did against Poirier but it's more that he hit Gaethje flush on the chin with a full power shot. Not to mention all the damage Gaethje already took in the fight.

 

[Rapa]

Justin was damged and tired and when you are tired your take even more damage and also max mostly throws arm punches and this one had weight behind it

 

[djacobox372]

At 35yo I think Justin has simply hit a wall.

 

[CedricBee]

funny considering that Max landed that punch squared on his face not jaw.

It caught the his (left) cheek bone,

but the follow through clipped the (left) side of Gaethje’s nose.

most importantly it turned his neck.

Meh, had the basic mechanics of a shot to the jawline that turns the neck & shuts off the lights.

 

[CedricBee]

1. Initial contact is headed towards cheek bone


2. Follow through clips bridge of his nose.

3. Turns his neck, thus shuts off lights. Especially when fatigue and battering is factored in …