Justin Gaethje shares honest verdict after rewatching Max Holloway fight for the first time days before UFC 313 comeback

03/06/2025 07:25 AM

‘The Highlight’ suffered his most devastating loss last time out after rolling the dice in the final seconds of the fight.

Justin Gaethje is used to pocketing bonuses for his performances as one of the most exciting fighters in UFC history.

Though he still took home a fight of the night bonus at UFC 300, it was Max Holloway that stole headlines with his KO win over Gaethje.

The former interim lightweight champion is now set to return at UFC 313 on March 8 where he will look to get back in the win column.

Gaethje believes that he learned a vital lesson from the Holloway loss and he doubled down on that after watching the fight back for the first time.

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Justin Gaethje says he fought well at UFC 300, Max Holloway was just better

Having spoken about wanting to be more aggressive in his return to the Octagon, that’s a high bar for ‘The Highlight’ to hit considering his reputation.

Justin Gaethje believes that in his rematch with Rafael Fiziev in Las Vegas, fight fans will see a combination of his current style with the relentless approach of his WSOF days before he signed to the UFC.

Gaethje was asked about this during his media day interviews a few days out from UFC 313 where he revealed that he had recently watched back his fight with Max Holloway for the first time.

He told The Mac Life that despite the way the fight ended, he was happy with his performance against ‘Blessed’ but acknowledged that his opponent was simply the better man on the night.

“Yeah, I just think the aggressive mentality. I just watched the Max fight today for the first time and actually I think I fought really well, you know, it’s just he was so great, he fought really well that night but even if I go back to that guy, I’m still a much more refined athlete in my skills and I think with that aggressive style and my skills being much more refined and much more accurate, that’s a dangerous combination.”

When Gaethje was then asked why he chose to watch the Holloway loss back a few days before his return nearly a year later, he said that he “figured it was about time.”

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Justin Gaethje only recently watched back his first fight with Rafael Fiziev

Justin Gaethje also revealed that it was only when his late notice rematch with Rafael Fiziev was put together that he decided to watch back their meeting at UFC 286.

In their first encounter, ‘The Highlight’ overcame a tough start to the fight to come away with a majority decision win, earning another fight of the night bonus in the process.

Gaethje said that he didn’t do it with the intention of making reads that he could carry into the rematch, explaining why he believes that it wouldn’t benefit him inside the Octagon.

“Yeah, I watched it the day we decided we were gonna fight him. I wasn’t looking at the fight for information, I was more just putting myself in that mindset and that arena and I think if I try to rely on things from that fight then if things go 180 the other way, it would be detrimental. I think my skills are ready, I think my preparation was fantastic, I’m ready to push the pace and I think I still have to be careful with this guy.”