Max Holloway enchanted the entire world of mixed martial arts by achieving a final-second knockout win over Justin Gaethje to become the new BMF champion. After the successful run at UFC 300, Holloway is allegedly getting ready to face Ilia Topuria at UFC 306, on the 14th of September at UFC Noche. Needless to say, the event is arranged as a treat for the Mexican fans on Mexican Independence Day. What could be better than watching one of your favorite fighters go up against the champion in the division? 

Even though the announcement is yet to be officially confirmed, the excitement around it is pretty high. And now, the former BMF title holder has warned Topuria of the challenge he is about to face.

Justin Gaethje warns Ilia Topuria of Max Holloway’s fighting prowess

As the co-main event of UFC 300 began, the fighting community was glued to their seats with ‘Blessed’ doing his best to dominate the Octagon against ‘The Highlight’. Soon, Holloway busted Gaethje’s nose before the bell rang and announced the end of round 1. Gaethje appeared in a recent interview with Kenny Florian on the Anik and Florian Podcast. Therein, he opened up on his fight with Holloway. Without a doubt, he was thankful for training how to breathe without a nose, which prevented him from getting exhausted in the first round of the bout.

‘The Highlight’ was aware of the flaws in his game plan. But all he had for his opponent was praise. He claimed, “I think he fought an amazing fight. He was, he was very precise and perfect that night. You know, a very tough Max Holloway to beat…” But Florian wasn’t done yet. He enquired if the former BMF wanted to change anything in his fight. Well, seems like he had a lot of regrets.

Gaethje answered, “I think I would’ve pressured more, I would’ve tried to move forward and fight… I thought he would come to me, and then when he did come, it was few and far between, where it was so, you know, unpredictable and fast that I could, I didn’t see it or find it. If I would have been inside and like I did in the fourth round, similar to the fourth round, only round that I for sure think I won, I moved forward. I was trying to step on his feet and, yeah, I think that was the way that I had to fight that fight. At least from the second round on.”

Even though the fight fans were pretty excited about the matchup between Topuria and Holloway, the Georgian-Spanish mixed martial artist wasn’t quite happy about it. However, the UFC veteran seems to believe that Holloway will be the one to emerge victorious over Topuria. 

Can ‘Blessed’ defeat ‘El Matador’?

Not too long ago, the French-Canadian broadcasters leaked two of the major cards scheduled for UFC Noche. Without a doubt, the MMA world went into the hype like never before. This led the UFC professionals to speak a few lines on the matchup. Henry Cejudo took to his talk show, ‘Pound 4 Pound’ to put forth his opinion. He declared that it would be Holloway who would defeat Topuria.

Needless to say, ‘Blessed’ is a pretty well-rounded fighter. He relentlessly pressurizes his opponents and with his top-notch cardio, Topuria might just be in deep trouble. Cejudo said, “If a guy like Ilia Topuria can not put out a guy like Max Holloway [who has] endurance, a gas tank, and now that he’s knocking people out senseless, Ilia Topuria could be in trouble.”

Who do you think will win the bout? Will it be Holloway? Or will Topuria successfully defend his belt? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.