Justin Gaethje Revisits UFC 300 Loss to Max Holloway, What He Would’ve Changed

April 13, 2023, saw Holloway crowned the new BMF Champion, producing one of the most violent knockouts in UFC history – a buzzer-beater finish of Gaethje in the final round of their five-round bout.

Holloway led the dance for most of the fight, but Gaethje had his moments, with the lightweight contender coming on strong in the fourth round. Knowing he was likely down on the scorecards, Gaethje gave it everything in round 5, but Holloway ultimately came out on top in their legendary brawl.

Months removed from the KO loss at UFC 300, Gaethje reflects on what went wrong in the BMF battle of attrition.

“My game plan wasn’t necessarily the correct game plan, but that’s always something you can know after the fact,” Gaethje said on the Anik & Florian Podcast. “I think he fought an amazing fight, and he was very precise and perfect that night, and that was a very tough Max Holloway to beat.”

It’s hard to picture anybody beating Holloway that night, with the longtime featherweight turning in one of the best performances of his UFC career in a surprising move up to the lightweight division. Though, with all of the knowledge that he has now, Gaethje details the adjustments he would’ve made in his matchup against what was an “unpredictable” Holloway.

“I think I would have pressured more,” Gaethje said on what he would’ve done differently. “I would have tried to move forward and fight at not… I thought he would come to me, and then when he did come, it was far between, where it was so unpredictable and fast that I could, I didn’t see it or find it.

“If I would have been inside and like I did in the fourth round, similar to the fourth round, only round that I for sure think I won, I moved forward. I was trying to step on his feet and, yeah, I think that was the way that I had to fight that fight, at least from the second round on.”

Despite being handed a KO result at UFC 300 and losing out on his lightweight title shot against Islam Makhachev, Justin Gaethje maintains he’s not done and will keep on fighting in the same entertaining way he always has.

“I mean, [it] was certainly a war,” Gaethje told MMA Knockout’s Mat Riddle in April. “Certainly the definition of a war, especially getting put to sleep 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. So even if I wanted to change how I fight, it’s really not possible. 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 [with Holloway]. But yeah, my intentions will be the same.”

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