SUMMARY
- Dana White announced a UFC 300 matchup between Justin Gaethje and Max Holloway for the BMF title.
- Fans had mixed reactions for the announcement as many believed Gaethje will be too strong for Holloway.
UFC CEO Dana White confirmed a UFC 300 rumor doing rounds for weeks. Justin Gathje will take on Max Holloway at lightweight for the BMF title. This will be Gaethje’s first BMF title defense.
Holloway called out Gaethje months ago for a BMF title ‘for the fans’. ‘The Highlight’ avoided the fight because he was not fond of the idea of fighting ‘Blessed’. Gaethje hoped to wait throughout the first half of the year and fight Islam Makhachev for the UFC Lightweight title in the summer of 2024. However, those plans have had to take a backseat as Gaethje will now fight in April.
BREAKING NEWS:#UFC300 will have Jim Miller vs Bobby Green and Justin Gaethje vs Max Holloway for the BMF Title at Lightweight pic.twitter.com/Cx1rbuWKfo
— danawhite (@danawhite) January 17, 2024
Additionally, White also announced that Jim Miller has gotten his wish to fight at the milestone PPV event. Miller will take on veteran fighter Bobby Green.
Fans react to the UFC 300 match-up between Justin Gaethje and Max Holloway
There were mixed reactions from the fans for the UFC 300 match-up between Gaethje and Holloway. ‘Blessed’ had a fantastic career at Feathweweight before losing a trilogy of fights against current UFC Featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski.
The last time Holloway fought at lightweight, he took on Dustin Poirier for the interim UFC Lightweight championship. Poirier won the bout via unanimous decision.
They sent a hitman out for my boy max. Damn this don’t look good. Smh
— Richie Juarez (@EL_RICHBOY) January 17, 2024
Many fans believe this is not a good matchup. One fan wrote, “I speak for all UFC fans when I say this is a waste of a matchup Justin a 155vr vs a washed 145r Ufc 300 will be a letdown.”
Another fan wrote, “They sent a hitman out for my boy max. Damn this don’t look good. Smh.”
Meanwhile, some fans were excited for the bout as well. Holloway, except for a submission loss in his UFC debut against Poirier, has never lost via stoppage. He has never been knocked out. On the other hand, Gaethje is one of the strongest hitters in the UFC. One fan wrote this would be a fight between “Hardest chin vs hardest hitter.”
Chael Sonnen predicted a Justin Gathje vs Max Holloway announcement
Following White’s announcement, the credibility of Chael Sonnen has increased. With Gaethje almost completely ruling out a fight against Holloway, many thought that was the end of the discussion. Sonnen, however, was confident that the announcement was coming.
In a video uploaded on his YouTube channel on December 24, 2023, Sonnen said, “So, as we are starting to look at UFC 300… I’m not only going to tell you that the BMF is going to be defended, I’m going to go a step further and tell you, it had better be defended. That’s the big prize, that’s the one the boys want… Justin Gaethje and Max Holloway, that announcement is coming soon.”
The UFC 300 card is now taking shape nicely. Several fights have been announced for the card including an all-Chinese championship bout between women’s strawweight champion Zhang Weili and challenger Yan Xiaonan.