Max Holloway is stacking bodies ahead of his highly anticipated BMF title clash with Justin Gaethje at UFC 300.
On Saturday, April 13, two of the greatest strikers in MMA history will collide in what is already being dubbed by pundits as “the people’s main event.”
For Gaethje, it will be nothing more than a pit stop before his inevitable title clash with lightweight king Islam Makhachev. But for Holloway, it’s an opportunity to disrupt the established order and potentially interject himself into a loaded lightweight top five.
As such, ‘Blessed’ is preparing for an all-out war, as seen in a video clip released by the UFC and shared by Championship Rounds on X.
Max Holloway is looking vicious in sparring, knocking down multiple sparring partners
@UFC #UFC300 #UFC #MMA pic.twitter.com/MuLmnGdNXQ
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) April 4, 2024
During the 35-second snippet, Holloway can be seen dropping multiple sparring partners ahead of his showdown with ‘The Highlight’ in Las Vegas.
After Smashing the competition at featherweight, Max Holloway sets his sights on one of the lightweight division’s all-time greats
The former featherweight world champion goes into the bout fresh off a brutal third-round knockout of The Korean Zombie at UFC Singapore in August. Holloway also holds notable wins against Arnold Allen, Yair Rodrigues, Calvin Kattar, Frankie Edgar, Brian Ortega, Jose Aldo, Anthony ‘Showtime’ Pettis, Charles Oliveira, and Clay Collard. In fact, the only losses ‘Blessed’ has absorbed in his last 10 years at featherweight have come against one man — Alexander Volkanovski.
Holloway’s move up to lightweight at UFC 300 will be just the second time he has competed in the division, the first coming at UFC 236 when he challenged Dustin Poirier for the interim lightweight title. ‘The Diamond’ earned a decision victory, snapping a 13-fight win streak for Holloway.
As for Justin Gaethje, ‘The Highlight’ is coming off an earth-shattering second-round head-kick KO against Poirier to claim the BMF title last summer. At this point, Gaethje is all, but guaranteed an opportunity at the 155-pound crown once he takes care of a bit of business with Holloway. However, ‘Blessed’ aims to derail those plans and ultimately steal Gaethje’s spot in line.
“I believe things happen for a reason,” Holloway said in an interview with Kevin Iole. “At the end of the day, I’m in a situation or I’m in a place where first thing’s first is Gaethje. But I can go out there and get my hand raised like we plan on doing, there’s a lot of fights that can be there. One of them is the 155-pound champ, which I think would be a fun one. So at the end of the day, I ain’t got no regrets.
“Everything happens for a reason. Stuff falls through all the time, but I’m still on this path to [the championship]. That’s why I’m still here today.”
Check out the official trailer for Justin Gaethje vs. Max Holloway at UFC 300 below: