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Justin Gaethje has an idea of what went wrong in his BMF title fight against Max Holloway.
Gaethje was halted with a buzzer beater knockout loss in the final round of his fight versus 'Blessed' in what many are heralding as an all-time great MMA fight. Holloway wrested the title from 'The Highlight' at UFC 300 and now the former champion reflected on what went awry in that contest.
Reflecting on the Holloway bout on The Dan LeBatard Show, in a transcription courtesy of MMA Mania, Gaethje said:
"I think if I made a mistake, the biggest mistake was not realizing or understanding through the camp how much danger I was in. I know that was a mistake now.
"I think it was more difficult for my body to go to a primal state because of my lack of awareness of the danger that my body was in. Not that I didn't give Max respect. It was more the fact that I never, in my life, saw Max as an opponent that I would potentially fight."
Check out the full Justin Gaethje chat on The Dan LeBatard Show below:
Justin Gaethje and his history of UFC title fights
This Holloway dynamic outlined above stemmed from 'Blessed' fighting the bulk of his UFC career as a featherweight while, as mentioned, Gaethje discussed how he has largely fought in a weight class higher at 155 pounds. In that run in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, the 35-year-old found himself in multiple high-profile title bouts.
Justin Gaethje won the aforementioned UFC interim lightweight title when he secured a fifth-round TKO finish over Tony Ferguson. This transpired at UFC 249 in May 2020 and punched his ticket to fight lineal UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Gaethje fell short to the Dagestan warrior by way of a second round triangle choke at UFC 254 in October later that same year. After a UFC 268 win over Michael Chandler via decision, the Arizona native secured his second shot at the lineal UFC lightweight belt.
This would take place against Charles Oliveira with 'Do Bronx' securing a rear naked choke in the first round of their UFC 274 contest in May 2022. Gaethje rebounded with a points win over Rafael Fiziev at UFC 286 in March last year and found himself in a BMF title fight thereafter.
Justin Gaethje became the second BMF champ in UFC history by tying up his series against Dustin Poirier. This came by way of a second round head kick at UFC 291 last July.
