If Max Holloway's main message heading into UFC 300 could be summed up in three words, it might just be this: “Wait and see.”
The former UFC featherweight champion will take on Justin Gaethje for the BMF title on a pay-per-view card on April 13th at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, marking the second time in his career that he will be a lightweight. It will be a class match.
The last time Holloway made this move was five years ago at UFC 300. Things didn't go well when he fought Dustin Poirier for the interim lightweight title at UFC 236. The battle was mostly one-sided. , Poirier won by unanimous decision with an overall score of 49-46.
What should fans expect to be different from Holloway this time around?
“I feel bigger, I feel stronger, I feel faster, and physically, mentally and physically, I feel good,” Holloway told MMA Junkie. “You'll see the difference. You'll see the difference in a little while. Watch it on weigh-in day. Even if you're there with Justin, you'll see the difference.”
Holloway isn't one to make excuses, but he pointed out that he accepted a rematch with Poirier on just six weeks' notice (Holloway also lost at featherweight in 2012). That's not the case here, as his UFC 300 showdown with Gaethje was booked for January.
“Everyone keeps talking about the Poirier fight. I hate bringing it up,” Holloway said. “But like I said, it took six weeks to prepare for that. It's almost a combat camp. It's not even a combat camp. That's kind of crazy. This time we doubled it. Just in time. We had a lot of time on this. People have asked us a lot of questions and we can't wait to answer them on April 13th.”
He continued, “I'm not going to make any excuses now or ever. All the time we've had, we've taken the right steps, we've done the right things, we've gone out to the game, we've done that.” I felt like I did well in the fight. I felt like I just got through the first few rounds and I didn't look like I was doing too well, but I managed to figure it out and go in there. But , after all, we couldn't raise our hands. Look, I look like a fucking loser, bro. That's not me.”
Unlike his rematch with Poirier five years ago, Holloway has prepared properly both physically and mentally for the Fight of the Night, so he expects success against Gaethje.
“Dustin Poirier's second fight felt good. We did the right thing with the limited time we had. I felt like it was a fun match, a great match, and it went well. But this fight (against Gaethje) is a little different,” Holloway said. “It's just different. It's been literally five years to this day and I think you guys can see the difference. I'm excited to be sharing the Octagon with a future Hall of Famer like Justin Gaethje, and I'm sure you guys will too. You can see the difference. We don't need to talk anymore. We have just under two weeks left. We can't wait to show it to you.”
After losing his third title fight to then-145-pound champion Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 276, Holloway moved to 2023 with a unanimous decision over Arnold Allen and a KO win over “Korean Zombie” Chan Sung-jeong. He achieved consecutive wins.
A win over Gaethje could secure Holloway a title fight against recently crowned featherweight champion Ilya Topuria, or even make him reconsider his career path at lightweight.
Please wait and see.
For more information on this card, check out MMA Junkie's UFC 300 event hub.
The story originally appeared on MMA Junkie
