Justin Gaethje has no regrets about facing Max Holloway and has vowed to bounce back from his UFC 300 loss.
Gaethje lost his BMF belt after getting stopped with a second left in the fight. Holloway told Gaethje to meet him in the center. Since Justin was behind on the scorecards, he had no option but to go for the stoppage. But as he did so, he was caught with a big right hand, dropping him out cold during the exchange.
It was a major setback, having stopped Dustin Poirier in his last fight at UFC 291 last year. Gaethje was scrutinized for taking the fight since he was in a good position to face Islam Makhachev for the UFC Lightweight Title. Khabib Nurmagomedov spoke out against the Holloway fight, saying a bout with Islam made more sense. But Justin had no ill will over how things played out.
Gaethje Reacts
“Crazy game you know. A lot of people in my position would have sat out, not taken that fight and waited for that title fight. But I have no regrets. I had so much fun. I think it was such a huge historic card for the UFC, and to be part of that and to be the best fight on that card is going to live on forever.
“Again, it was huge risk. I failed. If I would have won that fight, if I would have got a quick knockout, I would have taken that [title] fight. I would have that fight. But it’s just the name of the game. I’m happy for Dustin, good for him, somebody had to fight Makhachev. No matter win or lose it was gonna be – obviously if I won, it would be impossible to turnaround a fight in five or six weeks. So this is the way the UFC wanted to go, and so I guess I can’t complain about it,” Gaethje stated
Title Shot
But the decision has backfired. Poirier has gotten the title shot, as he will headline against Makhachev at UFC 302 on June 1. That leaves Justin further away from a title shot. There are no plans for a Holloway rematch, whose focus is elsewhere. Blessed has set his sights on fighting Conor McGregor or the current UFC Featherweight Champion Ilia Topuria. After stopping Justin, Holloway was already looking beyond Gaethje.
“I mean, it’s hard not to say, with him finally getting announced to fight. But it would be Conor 2, let’s run it back. That would be a huge fight I think. But legacy, and ideal-wise, trying to get back to the undisputed title, I’ll have to go with [Ilia] Topuria. He [Topuria] beat a man [Alexander Volkanovski] that I couldn’t help but figure out. We’ll have to see. We’re having a little bible verse beef on top of Twitter right now. So, life’s good. It’s looking like it will be him next, but first things first [I have to heal]. You know, Justin Gaethje kicks like a horse, man,” Holloway said
More must-reads: