Max Holloway doesn’t care too much about where he’s fighting at UFC 300, because he knows the whole world will be watching him throw hands with Justin Gaethje.
As the UFC continues to search for a headliner for the historic event on April 13, Holloway is preparing for a five-round showdown with Gaethje for the “BMF” title. So far, there’s only one other title fight at UFC 300 — the strawweight matchup between Zhang Weili and Yan Xiaonan — but it’s likely the promotion will add at least one more before all is said and done.
By any measure, Holloway’s fight will almost certainly end up on the main card, but he’s not losing any sleep whether he’s at the top of the bill or the opening bout on the pay-per-view.
“We’re fighting five rounds,” Holloway told MMA Fighting. “I’m fighting him five rounds already. I really don’t care where we are on the card. If we got to main event a big card like 300, it’d be super dope. But at the end of the day, I’m not stressing it too much. A fight is a fight.
“I don’t care where they put us on the card. As long as I got to be on the card, I was happy. Having an opponent like Justin Gaethje, even more happy, more stoked. At the end of the day, I just can’t wait. If it’s the main event slot, it’s the main event slot. If not, it is what it is. We’ll be on that card and I’m just stoked to be a part of it.”
It’s not a leap to expect that Holloway vs. Gaethje could steal the show.
The two fan favorites have earned 13 Fight of the Night awards between them and a remarkable 23 post-fight bonuses overall. Holloway holds records like the most significant strikes landed in UFC history and the most finishes ever in the featherweight division. Meanwhile, Gaethje’s reputation as an all-action fighter has earned him multiple Fight of the Year awards from different media outlets, not to mention an insane finishing rate of 20 knockouts over 25 career wins.
“Whenever myself or Gaethje’s on the card, I think most of the time it’s the people’s main event,” Holloway said. “They know what they get. When you see us on the card, you know what you’re going to get. You’re going to get the bang for your buck.
“With everybody being booked at our different weight classes, it only made sense to have a ‘BMF’ fight and be here and putting us on a huge card. I’m excited to share the octagon with a guy like Gaethje. He’s definitely going to be a Hall of Famer. It’s what BMF’s do. They take fights, they fight each other, and they show the world what’s up.”
The fight on April 13 will be Holloway’s return to lightweight, his first appearance in the weight class since losing to Dustin Poirier in an interim title fight back in 2019.
Holloway gave Poirier everything he could handle over five rounds, but the former featherweight champ dealt with a size and power discrepancy throughout the fight.
As he prepares to return to 155 pounds for the Gaethje fight, Holloway offers no excuses about that past loss, although he’s handling things much differently this time around.
“I think my eating habits are better,” Holloway explained. “My training is better. That was like four years ago, I believe I’m stronger, I believe I’m smarter. I’ve just got a lot of things going checked in than what I had. No excuses for that last fight, I hate making excuses, but I was just an overweight ‘45er, you might say, in that one.
“This one, it’s going to be different. I don’t want to talk too much about it but it’s going to be different. You guys are going to see on April 13 why it’s going to be different.”
Holloway knows that past fight will be referenced often leading into UFC 300, especially after Gaethje scored a vicious head kick knockout over Poirier in his most recent outing.
No two fights are the same, so Holloway isn’t going to spend much time detailing why he expects a different result, but he’s more than confident that he’ll walk out victorious when the night is finished.
“A lot of people like talking about that fight, and this and that, and because of what Gaethje did in his last fight,” Holloway said. “The beautiful thing is we get to find out April 13. I can’t wait. I can’t wait to show the world what we’ve been working on. I can’t wait to show people what we’ve been working on.”
If he beats Gaethje as planned, Holloway will find himself in a prime position for a future in which he could almost call his shot about what comes next.
He could return to featherweight and pursue another title shot there, or perhaps he’ll stick around at lightweight because Gaethje was already declared the No. 1 contender in the division after he beat Poirier.
Whatever the case, Holloway appreciates the freedom a win at UFC 300 will give him.
“It’s options,” Holloway said. “At the end of the day, it’s just having options. Being able to go to ‘45 is easy. Going up to ‘55 is easy. I just can’t wait to go out there and show out.”
