Justin Gaethje is all set for his BMF title defense against Max Holloway at UFC 300. One of the biggest fights in either fighter’s career, the matchup will be an intense affair. However, it would appear as though Gaethje already has his eyes set on a future opponent.
For those unaware, ‘The Highlight’ previously captured the reintroduced BMF title at UFC 291 when he beat Dustin Poirier. Closing out the rubber match with a thundering head kick KO, it was assumed that Gaethje would be going on to fight for the undisputed lightweight championship next.
The BMF title will be on the line at #UFC300 🚨@Justin_Gaethje & @BlessedMMA collide in a 5-round lightweight bout to see who’s the BADDEST of them all! pic.twitter.com/1TJE1h1cPT
— UFC (@ufc) January 17, 2024
However, the UFC soon announced the Max Holloway fight for UFC 300. As it turns out, the fight was already made before the idea for Justin Gaethje to face Islam Makhachev was floated. Naturally, considering that Charles Oliveira vs. Arman Tsarukyan is also on the same card, Gaethje will have his eyes on more than just Holloway on the night.
Justin Gaethje ends the Islam Makhachev or Khabib Nurmagomedov debate
For the most part, it is clear that Justin Gaethje will be fighting for the lightweight title at least one more time in his career. Having fallen short on two separate occasions, against Charles Oliveira and Khabib Nurmagomedov, it is clear that at 35, Gaethje may not have too many chances left. With that said, he will most likely have to contend with Islam Makhachev for the title in the future.
Speaking in a recent interview with SHAK MMA, Justin reveals why he thinks that Khabib Nurmagomedov is better than his student, Islam Makhachev:
“I don’t know man, I think he’s (Islam) great, and I think he’s gonna be hard to beat, but he’s not invincible. He knows that, I know that, the world knows it because he’s been beat before.”
“I think that’s the biggest difference (between Islam and Khabib).”
Notably, many forget that Islam Makhachev is not unbeaten like Khabib. In what was his second UFC fight, Islam was knocked out by Adriano Martins at UFC 192. Although he has built an impressive resume since then, the loss remains the only blemish on his record.
How would Justin Gaethje fare against Islam Makhachev?
All things considered, Justin Gaethje clearly intends and expects to fight Islam Makhachev at some point in the future. With a win over Max Holloway, Gaethje believes he will be next in line for the title shot, after the winner of Charles Oliveira and Arman Tsarukyan. In the meantime, he will bide his time and come up with a suitable game plan for the same. Having felt the might of Khabib, he will have a slight idea of what to expect again.
Previously, we’ve seen Gaethje struggle with that, and end up throwing things at the wall, hoping for a finish. The same was on show against Dustin Poirier when he threw a Hail Mary head kick to win the fight. However, for a fight against Islam, he would have the time to properly prepare.
Speaking in the same interview, Justin Gaethje stated what to him would be the most ideal circumstance.
“I think perfect scenario, they’re calling it the title eliminator, so the winner fights him next, which is June-July and then I fight the winner of that fight in November in Madison Square Garden. That’s kind of what I’m trying to speak into reality.”
With that, many may be wondering as to how Justin Gaethje would do against Makhachev having succumbed to Khabib in the past. For one, Islam’s ground and submission game is just as good. In addition to that Makhachev has seemingly fallen in love with his striking, as was visible in his fights against Alexander Volkanovski and Charles Oliveira. Here, it must be noted that Oliveira outdid Gaethje on the feet when he was trying to land big shots.
Whatever little success Gaethje had against Oliveira came during his combinations. Thereafter in his fight against Rafael Fiziev, Justin also displayed his grappling prowess. Thus, it would seem that he has been building other aspects of his game as well. With that said, the deciding factor in a potential Islam-Justin fight comes down to strength, which both have in abundance, and Gaethje’s takedown defense, jiu-jitsu, and smart work on the feet.