Matchmaking for Alex Pereira, Max Holloway other UFC 300 winners

Max Holloway

The biggest winner of UFC 300 was crystal clear and it was Holloway's jaw-dropping performance against Justin Gaethje in the BMF title fight. The fight not only gave the lightweights a Fight of the Night bonus but Holloway's buzzer-beating knockout awarded the Hawaiian an additional Performance of the Night bonus in what is likely to be the Knockout of the Year.

Holloway's future is semi-unclear now as the former featherweight champion is essentially a no. 1 contender in both the 145-pound and 155-pound divisions. Gaethje was the set-in-stone no. 1 contender at lightweight entering the bout after knocking out Dustin Poirier at UFC 291 but took the fight with Holloway to be on UFC 300.

But if Holloway is to look for a fight with lightweight champion Islam Makhachev, it will have to wait until the fall, as Dana White announced in his post-fight presser that the Dagestani would be headlining UFC 302 in June against Poirier. Holloway does not seem to mind as he had other ideas in his in-cage post-fight interview.

After stealing the show, Holloway called out featherweight champion Ilia Topuria, who was sitting cage-side at the event. Topuria has continuously written off Holloway since before he even gained the belt but at this point, that fight is certainly an option the UFC will fancy with fans fully behind it.

There is a chance that Holloway chooses to stay at lightweight given the fact that he bulked up to properly make a return to the division but he seems to be laser-focused on getting his old featherweight title back. With Makhachev busy at the moment and featherweight without a standout no. 1 contender, Holloway's next opponent will likely be Topuria for the 145-pound title.

This, of course, would be a sad sight to see for Movsar Evloev, who has made his case to be the next featherweight title challenger, but a business choice between Holloway or Evloev for the UFC is a no-brainer.