Max Holloway has asked Islam Makhachev not to believe headlines. The UFC spent a lot of time trying to figure out the main event for UFC 300. Dana White & co. reached out to several fighters, both past and present, to secure the biggest match possible as the main event. Among the fighters approached, the lightweight champion, Islam Makhachev, was one of them. The 32-year-old was offered a super fight against Leon Edwards and also a lightweight title fight against Charles Oliveira. However, he declined both those opportunities. This did not sit well with former featherweight champion Max Holloway.
In an interview with Demetrious Johnson, Max Holloway bashed Islam Makhachev for his inactivity. The lightweight champion had previously branded the UFC 300 ‘BMF’ fight between Holloway and Gaethje useless. When asked for his thoughts on this, ‘Blessed’ hit out at Makhachev, saying that he should have fought Oliveira in February. He went on to add that the man he had knocked out in his last fight (Volkanovski) turned around and fought before him. ‘Blessed’ also bashed Makhachev for waiting for so long, knowing that he would not be able to fight during March and April due to Ramadan.
Max Holloway’s comments did not sit well with Makhachev, who took to Twitter to shut down a baseless narrative about him. He pointed out that he has fought more times since 2021 than the likes of Max Hollloway, Justin Gaethje, and other big names.
‘Blessed’ replied to the tweet saying,
“Never said you weren’t active. I simply said you should have took the feb fight if you wanted to keep busy. Don’t just read headlines champ ;)”
Unfortunately for both Max Holloway and Justin Gaethje, the winner of the fight might not be given the next shot at the title.
A closer look at Max Holloway vs Justin Gaethje
Justin Gaethje takes on Max Holloway in what will be the third fight with the BMF title on the line in UFC history. This will be Holloway’s second fight at lightweight. The first one was against Dustin Poirier at UFC 291. In that fight, Holloway’s lack of size and power for the division was on display, as he was defeated by Poirier.
However, there are concerns about the fact that the same will be in store for Holloway against Gaethje. ‘The Highlight’ is a natural lightweight and has been fighting in the weight class for a while now. Holloway, on the other hand, does not appear to have put on some size heading into the fight. Thus, as things stand, the BMF fight will pose as a significant hurdle for Holloway to overcome.
