Justin Gaethje says he made a significant mistake against Max Holloway at UFC 300. Gaethje was defending his BMF…
Justin Gaethje says he made a significant mistake against Max Holloway at UFC 300.
Gaethje was defending his BMF belt in the featured bout against Holloway in a very intriguing matchup. It was a fan-friendly fight, but going into the bout, Gaethje says he made a key mistake as he didn’t realize how much danger he was in by fighting the Hawaiian.
Mandatory Credit: Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
“I think if I made a mistake, the biggest mistake was not realizing or understanding through the camp how much danger I was in,” Justin Gaethje said to the Dan LeBatard show (via MMAMania). “I know that was a mistake now. I think it was more difficult for my body to go to a primal state because of my lack of awareness of the danger that that my body was in. Not that I didn’t give Max respect. It was more the fact that I never in my life saw Max as an opponent that I would potentially fight.
“He was always in a different weight class. I never was like, ‘This is a guy I wanna fight.’ There’s never been another fight in my career where I’ve been like, ‘I didn’t expect to fight this guy,’ or ‘I have too much respect for this guy.’ Not that I didn’t wanna hurt him, I was willing to hurt him,” Justin Gaethje clarified. “But the lead up was very different — even Donald Cerrone was my friend back in the day, but he he knocked me out in a practice in, like, 2010. So I was like, I wanna get that back.”
“The competitor of me wants to get that back. There was nothing, that fire wasn’t there. And I think that was probably the biggest mistake that I made going into this fight. It’s something that I that I’m gonna learn from. But again, all credit to Max for for the way that he fought. I think he fought so perfect.”
Justin Gaethje ended up suffering a knockout loss to Max Holloway with one second left in the fifth round to lose his BMF title.
Justin Gaethje plans to take time off after UFC 300 loss
Following the knockout loss at UFC 300, Justin Gaethje says he will be taking some much-needed time off to heal up his brain and make sure he’s healthy.
Gaethje says he will be taking 180 days off of taking contact, as he wants to make sure he is 100 percent healthy for his next fight.
“I do want to take care of myself. I do think that repeated concussions with me going to sleep like that, me receiving that shot, it would be foolish for me to to jump back into training anytime before 180 days,” Gaethje said. “I could do cardio. I could stay in shape. That’s what I wanna try to do, especially the older I get, the harder it is to get back to the best shape of my life. So I wanna stay active. But obviously, the physical contact is gonna be limited for quite some time, just because I wanna preserve preserve myself. I think six months at least before I get back to taking shots.”
When and who Gaethje will fight in his return is uncertain.
Dan Hooker is down for a BMF title fight, so long as he gets to go through Bobby Green…
Dan Hooker is down for a BMF title fight, so long as he gets to go through Bobby Green first.
With back-to-back wins over Claudio Puelles and Jalin Turner in his last two outings, ‘The Hangman’ is looking to make a summertime return against a big name in the lightweight division.
Speaking with Hyon Ko of The Allstar, Hooker spoke about a potential clash with Beneil Dariush, but if he gets his wish, the UFC will rebook his previously scheduled scrap with 155-pound standout ‘King’ Bobby Green.
Furthermore, Hooker believes that such an electrifying fight could serve as a potential BMF title eliminator.
“You need a BMF [title] eliminator. That’s why I was originally calling for the [Bobby] Green fight,” Hooker said. “That’s originally what it was to the fans. I suggested that like it was a BMF eliminator and there weren’t any fans who had any counterarguments to that. Me and Green would be a heck of a fight. I owe it to the fans and I would love to step in and compete against him and line myself up for the BMF belt.
“After his performance against Jim Miller at UFC 300, Bobby Green’s stock is right back to where it deserves to be and if nothing comes together for International Fight Week, Green’s got two arms and two legs, brother, so he fits the bill, but I’d love to bring him down to Perth and do that one at home. That’ll be cool.”
Dan Hooker Slams Ilia Topuria’s BMF Title Demands
The BMF title currently resides with Max Holloway after ‘Blessed’ delivered the highlight of the night at UFC 300, dispatching Justin Gaethje with an epic buzzer-beating knockout. Following the win, Holloway’s stock rose massively, making him a viable contender in two different divisions.
Asked about his thoughts on Holloway’s last-second KO, Dan Hooker admitted to being blown away by the moment. He also took a dig at Ilia Topuria’s recent BMF title demands, saying:
“Absolutely wild. That’s the danger of the sport. For Max to have it in the bag and put it all on the line, that’s BMF sh*t, you know what I mean? If there’s a ‘but’ in your statement, you’ve immediately disqualified yourself from the BMF conversation. It’s gone over your head if you have to say, ‘I’ll fight him, but…’ If there’s any ifs, buts, or maybes, you’ve disqualified yourself.”
Off the back of his stunning fifth round buzzer-beating KO loss to Max Holloway in the pair’s symbolic BMF…
Off the back of his stunning fifth round buzzer-beating KO loss to Max Holloway in the pair’s symbolic BMF title fight at UFC 300 last weekend, former interim champion, Justin Gaethje has shut down a potential retirement from the sport, claiming he plans to continue fighting into the future.
Gaethje, a former interim lightweight gold holder, and a former BMF champion under the promotion, saw his two-fight winning run snapped over the course of last weekend against former featherweight champion, Holloway.
En route to a definitive unanimous decision loss to the Hawaiian, Gaethje elected to stand and trade with the ex-champion in the final 10 seconds of the last round, upon request.
Justin Gaethje vows to continue fighting despite UFC 300 loss
Sharing his thoughts on his defeat to Holloway, Arizona native, Gaethje insisted he would return to fighting – and promised the “best live show on Earth” in his next outing to the Octagon.
Mandatory Credit: Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
“I mean, [the fight] was certainly a war,” Justin Gaethje told MMA Knockout during a recent interview. “Certainly the definition of a war, especially getting put to sleepl like that. That definitely counted as one. Yeah, but I’m not done. I’m gonna fight in the future – and that’s the only way that I fight.”
Mandatory Credit: Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
“So even if I wanted to change how I fight, it’s really not possible,” Justin Gaethje explained. That’s how I compete. It’s how I’ve competed since I was a kid. And so the next time I step in there, you know, the best live show on Earth. We’ll see if I have as good a dance partner, as I had this last weekend. But yeah. My intentions will be the same.”
Who would you liketo see Justin Gaethje fight in his return?
Off the back of his stunning fifth round buzzer-beating KO loss to Max Holloway in the pair’s symbolic BMF…
Off the back of his stunning fifth round buzzer-beating KO loss to Max Holloway in the pair’s symbolic BMF title fight at UFC 300 last weekend, former interim champion, Justin Gaethje has shut down a potential retirement from the sport, claiming he plans to continue fighting into the future.
Gaethje, a former interim lightweight gold holder, and a former BMF champion under the promotion, saw his two-fight winning run snapped over the course of last weekend against former featherweight champion, Holloway.
En route to a definitive unanimous decision loss to the Hawaiian, Gaethje elected to stand and trade with the ex-champion in the final 10 seconds of the last round, upon request.
Justin Gaethje vows to continue fighting despite UFC 300 loss
Sharing his thoughts on his defeat to Holloway, Arizona native, Gaethje insisted he would return to fighting – and promised the “best live show on Earth” in his next outing to the Octagon.
Mandatory Credit: Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
“I mean, [the fight] was certainly a war,” Justin Gaethje told MMA Knockout during a recent interview. “Certainly the definition of a war, especially getting put to sleepl like that. That definitely counted as one. Yeah, but I’m not done. I’m gonna fight in the future – and that’s the only way that I fight.”
Mandatory Credit: Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
“So even if I wanted to change how I fight, it’s really not possible,” Justin Gaethje explained. That’s how I compete. It’s how I’ve competed since I was a kid. And so the next time I step in there, you know, the best live show on Earth. We’ll see if I have as good a dance partner, as I had this last weekend. But yeah. My intentions will be the same.”
Who would you liketo see Justin Gaethje fight in his return?
Max Holloway took quite a few leg kicks from Justin Gaethje during their BMF title fight at UFC 300….
Max Holloway took quite a few leg kicks from Justin Gaethje during their BMF title fight at UFC 300.
Holloway scored an incredible fifth-round knockout win over Gaethje to become the BMF champion. It was an incredible win from Holloway, but he did take some nasty leg kicks, and during the fight a welt started to show.
Following the win, Holloway was on his Kick live stream and showed off some of the damage he took from the leg kicks.
His leg was still swelled up from the kicks, showing how serious the leg kicks were, but Holloway powered through the leg kicks through the fight to get the knockout win.
Max Holloway eyes featherweight title shot
With Max Holloway becoming the BMF champion, the plan for the Hawaiian is to return to featherweight to fight Ilia Topuria for the title.
Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
Even before Holloway won the BMF belt, he and Topuria had been trading shots at one another, and that has only increased since then.
Speaking on The MMA Hour, Max Holloway says he wants Ilia Topuria next time out and hopes it does happen.
“That was always my main goal. My main goal was always fighting Ilia,” Holloway said. “This was a fun fight. Shout out to Justin Gaethje. Justin Gaethje’s a legend, ‘The Highlight,’ he had everything to lose. He gave me the shot and this happened. But in my mind it was always, no matter what, win, lose, whatever it is, even until today, I wanted to fight Ilia.
“People always ask me, ‘What are your thoughts on Ilia?’ The only thing that comes to my mind is it’s questionable. The dude is super questionable. Every other 145 contender that they wanted to fight [Alexander Volkanovski], they went through me. They fought me or they had to fight me. That’s one guy that eluded me. I don’t know how, I don’t know why, but he did and he got the title shot,” Holloway added.
Currently, the fight between Holloway and Topuria has not been booked, but both men are calling for the bout to happen next.
It’s quite rare that a UFC card will put forward not one, but two title contenders. But on the one-of-a-kind night that was UFC 300, which had high-level matchups from the opening bout to the main event, many potential title matchups were set up.
Coming out of last weekend’s show from Las Vegas, there are a few fighters who seem to have a clear case for a championship bout sometime in the future. Before we finally move on from what is likely the card of the year and arguably an event that can be compared to some of UFC’s best, let’s discuss some names who deserve a chance at gold soon.
Max Holloway
Even heading into last weekend, Max Holloway had a decent argument for a featherweight title fight.
His track record at featherweight has been phenomenal, but simply not enough to get him a chance against the king of the division in recent years. Why? Because the long-time champ, Alexander Volkanovski, beat him three different times since 2019. With a trio of losses to the top name, it was hard to justify another title fight for Holloway. However, when Ilia Topuria stopped Volkanovski earlier this year to become the new champion, things changed.
Now, Holloway is a fighter who has, apart from his losses to one fighter, gone undefeated at featherweight for a decade. Wins over Yair Rodriguez, Calvin Kattar, Arnold Allen, and many others in the weight class. With the stellar record he has over the past few years against quality opponents, he had a solid argument for a fight against Topuria. That’s a pretty good resume, and it’s worth remembering: This was before he had his massive performance at UFC 300.
In retrospect, Saturday night was icing on the cake. Holloway put together an incredible striking performance against lightweight Justin Gaethje. He then finished it off with a career highlight, scoring a last-second walk-off knockout punch to end the fight in viral fashion. The fight turned Holloway not only into a strong contender but also a fighter riding the momentum of a popular performance.
UFC 300 could have been a disaster for Holloway. He might have had a weaker argument for a title fight if he lost, even though the bout was in a different weight class. But luckily he doesn’t have to worry about that anymore. Now he can figure out what, if anything, he needs to do for a title shot.
Some might say that Holloway’s numerous title fight losses to Volkanovski and the fact that he has been in so many wars in the past give him rough odds in a fight against Topuria. There’s no doubt that Topuria will be a tough assignment for him, although it simply is the right fight to make at this moment. Since he is well qualified for a championship chance and is still in a high-level performance part of his career, it feels like the perfect time to give him a chance against Topuria.
Arman Tsarukyan
Mandatory Credit: Zuffa LLC
Just after Arman Tsarukyan overcame Charles Oliveira in a competitive three-round decision, it looked like he would be a solid next challenge for Islam Makhachev. However, just a few hours later, it became clear that he would actually have to be the next-next challenger. This was because it was announced later in the evening that Dustin Poirier would challenge for Makhachev’s belt at UFC 302.
While Tsarukyan can’t say he’s next in line for a shot, he might be able to make that case in just a couple of month’s time once the lightweight title goes on the line once again. Due to UFC 300 and 302 being close together, it actually works quite well for Tsarukyan, if he is next up for a shot. And he should be, here’s why.
Heading into this weekend, Tsarukyan already had a strong record at lightweight. However, unlike a situation like Max Holloway, he definitely had to do more to justify a fight against Makhachev. He had nine wins at lightweight, and his two losses along the way came with interesting stories. In 2019, he lost to Makhachev, which is a defeat that has aged gracefully. And in 2022 he dropped a decision to Mateusz Gamrot, a five-round result that was highly debated. Just check out this MMADecisions page to see how people felt about that one.
Tsarukyan has lots of wins to discuss as well. He stopped Beneil Dariush in just over a minute, beat Damir Ismagulov on scorecards and finished Joel Alvarez with strikes. His win over Oliveira this weekend—while definitely a close fight—is easily the biggest victory of his career.
It was just months ago that Oliveira was up next for a title shot. After suffering an injury in camp, the former champ was removed from his UFC 294 bout against Makhachev. He hadn’t fought in between that time and last Saturday, meaning his status as a top lightweight near a title opportunity hadn’t faded that much. Tsarukyan took that momentum from him with a narrow win and is arguably one of the best-suited challengers for the belt. That is, at least after Poirier, according to the matchmakers.
Kayla Harrison
Women’s bantamweight isn’t a very populated division, meaning it doesn’t take much for a fighter to climb the rankings. If you have a few strong performances, it’s easy to make a case for a title shot.
Kayla Harrison might only have one UFC fight to her name, but she seems to also have an incredibly strong argument for the title match that she has been incredibly focused on for months — following her outing at UFC 300.
Harrison won her promotional debut in dominant fashion, submitting Holly Holm with a rear naked choke in the second round. Her victory came after a week of questions that called into doubt how she would do: Would Harrison struggle to make bantamweight, a class that she has never gone as low as? Will the weight cut hurt her performance? How will she do against UFC-level talent? By making weight, performing normally in the class and putting together a win that made her look like the far more skilled athlete, it silenced a lot of the critics and put her in a great position in the division.
Harrison’s pre-UFC career must also be considered when weighing whether she should receive a title fight. She is coming over after a 16-fight PFL career, mainly fighting up at the rarely-seen women’s lightweight division. While she never had any huge wins in the PFL, her multi-year dominance in the promotion gave her a reputation that followed into her UFC run.
Harrison was placed fourth in the bantamweight standings this week, putting her below just a few other fighters. The only fighter ranked above her that hasn’t received a title shot in the past is Ketlen Vieira. There’s certainly a case to make that Harrison isn’t the definitive next challenger for the bantamweight belt. However, when you consider that she is a fresh face in the division, had a strong debut against a respected opponent, and has the hype from her successful PFL run, it seems likely that she could get an opportunity for a title soon. And if she does get that chance, it’s hard to argue against it.
UFC 300 Was A Big Night For Making Contenders
Even when looking beyond examples of fighters who could get a title shot immediately, UFC 300 had many bouts that presented talents who could be just one fight away from being in that position.
Take for example former light heavyweight champion Jiri Prochakza, who stopped Aleksandar Rakic in the second round. Or Aljamain Sterling, who bounced back from a title loss and won his featherweight debut. Jessica Andrade might have even gotten a step closer to a rematch against Zhang Weili with her prelim victory over Marina Rodriguez.
It will be interesting to look back on UFC 300 in a few months and see where the winners on this show have gone. Chances are, at least a few will be in title shots, and maybe even one of them will go on to become champion.
Who would you grant a title fight off the back of UFC 300?
Dan Hooker is down for a BMF title fight, so long as he gets to go through Bobby Green…
Off the back of his stunning fifth round buzzer-beating KO loss to Max Holloway in the pair’s symbolic BMF…
Max Holloway took quite a few leg kicks from Justin Gaethje during their BMF title fight at UFC 300….
Three title contenders that came out of UFC 300.
