Featherweight mainstay Max Holloway will look to add another title to his collection when he battles lightweight slugger Justin Gaethje for the promotion’s officially unofficial bragging rights belt, the BMF title, this Saturday night (April 13) in Sin City.
Emanating from the familiar confines of T-Mobile Arena, UFC 300 boasts a stacked lineup featuring 13 fights and 12 current or former champions. In “the people’s main event,” Holloway will move up from 145 to 155 to try and take Gaethje’s title as the UFC’s baddest motherf*cker and potentially put himself in line for a lightweight championship opportunity.
Appearing on a recent episode of First Take with Stephen A. Smith, UFC CEO Dana White dubbed Holloway the “greatest featherweight of all time” while hyping up his clash with Gaethje.
“Max Holloway, always a big fan favorite,” White said. “Probably the greatest featherweight of all time, going up against Gaethje, who is a human highlight reel” (h/t MMA Mania).
Dana White gives a brief history of the bMF title ahead of Max Holloway vs. Justin Gaethje
UFC 300 will feature the third time that the BMF belt has been up for grabs since its inception in 2019. The belt was first introduced during a main event clash between Jorge Masvidal and Nate Diaz. ‘Gamebred’ walked away with the title before embarking on a four-fight losing streak that would see him exit the promotion, having not once defended the belt.
In July, Justin Gaethje and Dustin Poirier squared off at UFC 291 to crown a new BMF titleholder. ‘The Highlight’ scorched Poirier with a perfectly timed head-kick KO in the second round.
“The idea of the ‘BMF’ was built right here in this room,” White told Smith from his Las Vegas office. “There’s always these fights that the fans love, whether it’s a Masvidal vs. Diaz, you know, those types of fights — Gaethje and Holloway. We were sitting in here one day and thought about building this ‘BMF’ title and who’s better fit for this thing than Justin Gaethje and Max Holloway? We thought about it in here. I told the guys, ‘Tell me if I’m crazy, but what do you think of this idea?’ They loved it, the fans love it, and here we go.”
Check out the official trailer for Max Holloway vs. Justin Gaethje at UFC 300 below: