Among the many stellar fights added to UFC 300, Justin Gaethje defends his BMF belt against former featherweight champion Max Holloway. This is a fan-favorite fight between two of the most loved fighters in the UFC. For Holloway, there is an added motivation apart from winning the belt going into this fight. In a recent interview on ESPN MMA, he revealed how Justin Gaethje’s actions from the past serve as a motivator for him.
While speaking to Holloway, Brett Okamoto brought up the towel gate incident from a few years ago. He asked ‘Blessed’ if that would play a part in him wanting to get a win over Gaethje. He said,
“Brother I told him brother, he even told me brother it just looked like you wanted to get off the scales so I just threw the towel around. I am like bro you did the right thing, but I am not going to forget that Gaethje. I guess that is the whole beef, that is the way to settle this fight. Me and him have what is that? That is the towel gate right? We can call it the towel gate.. He got me off the scale sooner than later.”
For the uninitiated, the towelgate incident between Gaethje and Holloway took place at UFC 218. Max Holloway stepped on the scales to weigh in for his first title defence. He stripped off all his clothes in order to make weight and therefore needed the help of the towel to cover him.
Definitely was a big mistake to let Justin Gaethje hold the towel for Max Holloway while he was weighing in pic.twitter.com/blgv8xJylh
— Jason Williams (@jasoneg33) August 23, 2022
Gaethje helped out by holding the towel alongside another individual. However, it was in front of the scale and therefore the athletic commission executive was not able to see the weight. Gaethje therefore lifted the towel above the scale briefly, exposing Max Holloway completely. This incident is what Holloway says will fuel his drive to secure a win.
A closer look at Max Holloway vs Justin Gaethje at UFC 300
Justin Gaethje won the UFC’s BMF belt with a brilliant head kick win over Dustin Poirier. Holloway, on the other hand, his most recent win was against ‘The Korean Zombie’ in August last year. Holloway will not be getting a title shot in his division anytime soon given he is 0-3 against the champion.
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Gaethje is also in a similar spot, having fallen short in a title fight on two occasions now. The fight between Gaethje and Holloway is the second of what many expect to be three title fights on the UFC 300 card.
