Justin
Gaethje doesn’t regret fighting Max
Holloway instead of waiting for a title shot that will now go
to Dustin
Poirier.
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Gaethje defeated Poirier via a vicious head-kick KO last year to
earn the BMF title and bolster his relevance in the lightweight
title picture. Poirier bounced back from the loss with a
highlight-reel knockout win over surging contender Benoit St.
Denis at UFC
299 last month, making a case for the next title shot.
While Gaethje would also have a legitimate claim to the next
lightweight gold bid, “The Highlight” put his BMF strap in the line
against Max
Holloway at UFC
300 earlier this month. With champ Islam
Makhachev adamant on defending his title this summer, the
turnaround would be unlikely for the winner of that fight.
Gaethje admits that he ruled himself out of the next title shot by
accepting the UFC 300 booking against Holloway. Makhachev will now
defend his title against Poirier in the main event at UFC 302
on June 1 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
However, despite suffering a knockout loss, Gaethje doesn’t regret
taking the fight against Holloway. Gaethje further noted that it
would have been impossible for him to fight Makhachev this summer
regardless of the outcome of his clash against Holloway. While
Gaethje had previously admitted that he would be annoyed with
Poirier getting the next shot, he now claims to be happy for “The
Diamond.”
“Crazy game you know,” Gaethje told MMA Knockout. “Lot of people in my position would have
sat out, not taken that fight and waited for that title fight. But
I have no regrets. I had so much fun. I think it was such a huge
historic card for the UFC, and to be part of that and to be the
best fight on that card is going to live on forever.
“Again, it was huge risk. I failed. If I would have won that fight,
if I would have got a quick knockout, I would have taken that
[title] fight. I would have that fight. But it’s just the name of
the game. I’m happy for Dustin, good for him, somebody had to fight
Makhachev. No matter win or lose it was gonna be – obviously if I
won, it would be impossible to turnaround a fight in five or six
weeks. So this is the way the UFC wanted to go, and so I guess I
can’t complain about it.”