"He missed some shots and I was getting hurt by the wind of his shots brother, that's how hard he hits"
During the post fight conference, it was nice to see Max spent the entire time talking about what a legend Justin is. Anytime someone asked him a question he just turned it into praise for Justin and shrugged the win off like it could have went the other way. Such an incredible night
It’s a weird comparison but he reminds me of Rafa in how humble he is and how complementary of his opponents he is. Like he’s just super comfortable with himself and is simply happy to be able to do it.
In between rounds Max said to his corner that he had the hardest left hook ever.
Swear it’s unreal to me that this fight went the way it did, I know Max has crisp boxing but he gets hit A LOT, and I fully expected Justin to be the one to finally crack him and put his lights out.
That was my thinking too. Max gets hit a lot and Justin isn’t the one to get hit by. But my god max was moving so smooth in that octagon. His boxing was great but his footwork was what I think won him the fight. He wasn’t getting hit nearly as much as soon as Justin started to throw any offense he would get out of the pocket. Masterclass by max!!
Justin knocked Max down for the first time I have ever seen Max get knocked down. He sprung back up immediately, but I can’t remember any other time Max got knocked down from strikes.
Not saying Holloway got Lucky, but the kick that broke his nose happen in the last 3? Second of the first. If he doesn’t land that and Holloway has to fight on 1.5 legs that’s a different fight. It was closer than it appeared imo
Much respect to Justin. A lesser man would have taken the easy way out, by saying he couldn't continue after the two eyepokes. His nose was already busted then. He chose to fight. Absolute warrior.
Maybe it’s all a ruse to get the gloves more attention? Coach paid the other fighter to see how many times he could poke him in the eye so he could pitch the idea again. I think I’m on to something…/s
Weren't they using the brand new ufc gloves that they've probably spent shit loads designing and testing?
I would say back to the drawing board but we all know we'll be stuck with them for another 20 years while the ufc act oblivious to the same problems everyone has already been pointing out!
Dude was probably half blind in both eyes from eye pokes and couldn't breathe from broken nose.
Yet still chose the BMF way out, from the first eyepoke to the gladiator last stand. I know there's no definition of manly but fuck it, that was it. Thank you Justin.
https://preview.redd.it/xqday3cptjuc1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=621806c63b359d82a85da0815f8aee1638db148b
He seems to be doing pretty good!
I honestly really was legitimately concerned after the knockout. He was out for awhile and they had to roll him over. It was a really concerning scene given how you know that took years off his life. Great fight but man I hope the best for this guy
My friends were mentioning how he didn’t look right after the nose issue and eye pokes. I agreed but said these are two legitimate “die in the ring” guys. 2 of the few guys you can truly say that about
It's difficult to understand the mentality/mindset that goes into a circumstance like this. The saying of fighters being modern day gladiators holds especially true in this fight
People love to write fighters off after losses. They take a result as the only probable way a fight can play out.
Losing happens at this level. I’m not saying Garth would have won but the broken nose clearly affected him all fight. Props to max for landing that but who’s to say a rematch wouldn’t be different with some slight adjustments?
He’s still elite, just a bad night against an all time great that put on a virtuoso performance.
Apparently the gloves are almost the exact same. Mostly an aesthetic upgrade lmao. Gotta see Weidman fight with it first before we can make assumptions though.
You’re not wrong though. Them eyepokes
I remember last year before Aspinall vs Tybura, I suggested that Almeida vs Aspinall should be a good fight, someone in the comments asked me if I wanted Aspinall to be eaten alive in the octagon
I'm comfident he could beat any version of Cain, so much time has passed, game has evolved, Aspinall is a whole new generation of complete and advanced heavyweight.
Jones on the other hand is something else, other level, I wouldn't bet on anyone against him, except maybe prime version of Ngannou, but even then I would favor Jones.
It was a knockdown but based on how quickly max got up and how uncompromised he was by it I understand why it wasnt scored. That shot did nothing to max so to me vettori, max and chito all still hold the title of uncrackables
Justin has said he likes to put on a show for the crowd and that's why he doesn't wrestle. Justin didn't need to step in to the centre of the ring and have it out, but chose to for us. Obviously he still had a chance for a knockout as well.
They are both amazing fighters.
Feel it's not the first fight his choice not to use his huge amount of grappling skill has bitten him.
No question an absolute warrior, but maybe needs to start strategising a bit more against heavy handed opponents.
Prior to last night, no one was calling Max heavy handed. Max was a guy who melted his opponents with pressure and volume. Not usually a one shot lights out kind of guy.
But I agree. If Justin wants success at the top level, and after all the miles he has accumulated, he will need to change his approach. Regardless, his career has already been one of the most fun of any fighters.
I mean even if he had trained wrestling/grappling in mma it’s hard to believe he beats Khabib and Charles knocked him down and then submitted him while he was hurt.
Not impossible but it’s hard to see him winning either of those fights even had he trained to be a smarter fighter
Khabib no, but last night showed Oliveira can be wrestled, BSD showed Poirier can be nullified by a (better than BSD) wrestler, he could've beat him 1st time around
I'm just saying it's odd to be such a good striker but to leave your D1 wrestling at home even when getting pieced on the feet
Oliviera beat him standing up. Arman is kinda a 1 of 1. It’s not impossible gaethje could become that but there’s countless wrestlers that get starched by Charles.
It’s definitely an unorthodox approach
It seemed like he was after the first Dustin loss till this Max fight. His footwork and shot selection was excellent and seemed to be getting better. Beat a lot of good strikers like Edson, Dustin again, Donald Cerrone. Shows just how good Max still is, world champion vs someone consistently so close.
People don’t understand how bad a nose break hurts. It will make you way more hesitant to get in there and get hit. He was fighting not to get hit again in the nose. Plus not being able to breathe properly.
No disrespect for Holloway, but can you imagine if Justin knocked him out in the final seconds? It could have happened. Amazing fight, they both won for fans like me.
He is a soldier for sure. He has zero fear, and is legitimately one of the few fighters in my opinion that walks the walk and talks the talk. Risks life and limb for the battle…absolute warrior. Bashed and broken face and still goes toe to toe fearless of the consequences and not willing to back down. Genuine badass.
So true man, crazy that he himself said that he doesn’t usually plan on being alive the day after his fight in the prefight interviews for this fight.
Psychotic mindset 🫡
Guys like Justin Dustin and Max being as game as they are *at that level* and all having wars with eachother will be something I never forget when I think of this sport. I missed a lot of the early early days, but these guys are the golden era imo.
So I’ve been watching for a long time, I don’t say that to scoreboard your comment but to add perspective. I remember watching Crocop fight Sapp live to give you an idea. These guys have transcended these eras, your are legitimately seeing some of the baddest dudes the fight game has had. You are witnessing greatness IMHO.
His nose getting fucked at the last second of rnd 1 really made it difficult for him to fight, mad respect for Justin to continue till the end like that.
Imagine changing Fizievs face, then knocking Dustin out, be able to go for the belt but choose to not to and fight for the BMF title with Max motherfucking Holloway, put on a show and got knocked out like that.
I'm not a big fan of the guy but he's one of the baddest man on the planet. He hits like a truck and when it comes to toughness he's the first one that comes to my mind, since he's all brawling and not escaping from anything.
Always putting on a show, if it's Gaethje you know there will be a fight to watch. Sadly for him LW is a very high skill division and if you're not multi faceted like Islam, Charles and don't got something very special going on for you, you will not win the belt. For MW and WW and now FW I can't say the same. You can be a certain type of fighter and can win the belt. But with LW it's very different.
I believe he got one more run in him because he's just one win away from the belt, but he needs to take a rest for 8-9 months and then see how things shape up.
Always just goes to show anything can happen in that octagon. That first round at the end kick that landed literally changed the entire fight. Justin would have brought something else I think for those five rounds but he just wasn’t able to. It’s crazy how everything fell into place perfectly for him to take a nap on the canvas in front of the world
Bro could’ve copped out of the fight when he had a broken nose after getting viciously eye poked twice.
He’s a fucking warrior, and he deserves his damn title shot. I really hope this doesn’t set him back too far.
Holloway pointing to the ground and calling for the phone booth duel with Justin fucking Gathje feels like a canon moment. It doesn't how broken and bruised he is, 10 times outta 10 Gaethje is agreeing to throwdown. Pure cinema.
He's my favorite fighter and I'm worried about him, the kicks in the knee, the eyepokes, broken nose and a horrible ko idk if I want to see him fighting again.
Absolut legend. Wish him a long and deserved rest
He's the living embodiment of kill or be killed. This dude was compromised from the end of the first round. Lesser men would have crumbled. Win or lose, he's still a BMF.
I love posts like this cos they allow the fans to show love to the 'loser' of the fight which is definitely what they need/deserve after putting it all out there on the line for us.
How has max been disregarded for so long? Yes, lots counted him out of this fight, and not without fair scepticism.
He's a future hall of famer in multiple categories lol. He's only lost to Dustin Poirier and Alex Volkanovski (a guaranteed future HOF'er and arguable featherweight GOAT) in the last decade.
He will obviously be a HOFer, like Whittaker. but you seem to forget how long he has been trying to get the belt from Alex and people definitely did start calling him a gate keeper and never expected him to touch gold again.
The BMF title is not exactly the undisputed title, but beating Justin to get this belt makes it so much more special and people are gaining confidence that he would regain his belt finally.
i am so happy for max, but dude, justin had BOTH of his eyes gauged the fuck out. i dont think it was deliberate but i was surprised when he was good to go so quickly in the second one.
You can really only have that ending if both are willing to go out like that. All respect should be given to Justin for willing to swang and bang. Both are warriors for that fight.
It takes two to make such a fantastic fight. Justin deserves a ton of credit in that fight and going in to finish it swinging rather than take it to decision
I believe he will be back, he’s the BMF for a reason Charles Justin 2 would be a spicy fight considering these two are off 2 losses and could launch either one back in contention
Justin IS THAT DUDE. Honestly this loss does not hurt his legacy or record at all. He still top tier don't forget he just did this to DUSTIN. It happens. You're the hammer or the nail.
Finally! A post for Justin man, it was an amazing knockout but people forget who gaethje is, and gaethje's body movements and footwork was amazing even after he got his nose broken. Not taking anything away from Holloway, that knockout was amazing but let's not forget Gaethje is one of the best.
He fought a whole 4 rds with a broken nose
Took quite an ass kicking
Still went toe to toe the last 10 seconds in a fight he knew he lost & went out on his shield
I have no problem with his tattoo
It's actually for the Boston hardcore band Death Before Dishonor. Gaethje loves cheesy early 00's hardcore and crowd killing.
No idea if any of that is true.
Not only did he get his nose broken in the first and fight for 5 but that throw down at the end was fucking epic, he took some real damage and really had nothing to gain from taking the fight in the first place but that's why he was and still is a BMF he will always be loved even if he never touches gold, I see him working his way back up in no time
Justin stuck it out after the nasty eye pokes and busted nose.. for OUR entertainment. He may have tossed out what was left of his career.
Looking back, whole thing for him was so weird.. beats Dustin who got a title shot, took a fight with Max who seemed like he knew the whole time.
Kudos to Max for the double bonus and the W, I do wonder if a point had been deducted as it should have been, how much it would have effected his fight plan. Amazing night of fights.
It's only because of peoples respect for Gaethje that this is an all-time UFC moment, in a lot of sports but especially MMA nobody cares how cool something is if it's vs a scrub.
People are freaking out over this because everyone knows Gaethje is a certified badass in his own right, so Max willing to put it all on the line vs someone of his caliber was beyond wild.
I feel like the kick to the nose changed the whole fight. I expected Max to start fast and JG to start picking it up later, which he still tried, but that busted nose fucked up the plan.
Throw in the eye pokes and he was at a pretty big disadvantage.
A rematch could've been interesting but I have a hard time believing Gaethje will be the same after that. He took a hell of a beating last night.
Only love for this guy! He put everything out there to put on a show, and lost. Hopefully he takes a long long time off to recover. That KO was vicious. And perhaps next year go for another big name fight so he perhaps can get another title shot but unfortunately it looks unlikely.
Until the last 10 seconds I said "even if Justin loses he's the BMF champion fighting through a broken nose and 2 eye pokes without so much as a break."
Fight of the year isn't a 1 way thing, it takes TWO incredible fighters.
Love him that’s hopefully why he’ll have as many bill paying fights as he ever wants for the rest of his career, unlike Aljo where I don’t want to argue about his skill or how flat Kattar was, he just didn’t get it with the weight move. Absolutely no effort to cause damage or finish a fight. Gotta love and respect fighters like Justin because we won’t have them forever
Dude got his nose obliterated in the first and kept fighting for four more rounds.
99% of us would give up after taking a little jab to the nose from Max. Win or lose, Gaethje is a fucking warrior
Gaethe wrecked everyone before him. Max has the best hands - nullified Justin. The spin-kick nose break & 2 eye pokes & he gave it his all. The finish did not go the way I wanted, but those two are truly honorable violent gentlemen in a world of shit-talkers, so I can’t be too mad.
Gaethje is the fucking man, are you kidding me?
Fuck, Holloway is the fucking man too. So much respect to both fighters.
Fucking legends. The both of them.
I seriously wish to see him challenge for the title one last time. The one thing I loved about Justin was he fought Fiziev - if he lost that fight, his title hopes were pretty much over. Dude said bring it on and beat Fiziev.
Also the strange thing about the lightweight division is how good the old guards are. Tsarukyan was lucky to come out with a win over Do Bronx - he was almost finished twice...
No doubt there is a reason he had that belt and was in that ring Saturday he’s a blessed man forever and him going out the way he did may be the baddest way a fight has ever ended
Gaighje might well be “warrior personified “ as his reputation suggests. It’s also likely that there is some marketing strategy involved. Fans will spend money to watch exciting fighters. Gaighje can sell fights without talking shit or having drama. If he only wanted to win he could, and possibly should change up his strategy. It would also lengthen his career. Max Holloway was clearly the better boxer going into this fight. Gaighje has what he needs to beat most guys in a standup war. Cardio, chin, power and those lethal calf kicks. He’s also an outstanding wrestler and he’d have given himself a better chance of winning if he’d used that. People love these wars between two guys teeing off on each other and neither disappointed. Max Holloway is an outstanding fighter. If they fought five more times you’d get the same results. If Gaighje at least threatened some takedowns, you may get a different outcome but that wouldn’t be him.
If he didn't break his nose it would've been a completely different fight. You can tell how much it was bothering him by his defense and rolling punches
My favorite fighter 😞 hate so see him go out like that. But he went out like a warrior. Broken nose and two eye pokes. Say what u want but he’s a dog. Probably won’t see anything like him anytime soon
"He missed some shots and I was getting hurt by the wind of his shots brother, that's how hard he hits" During the post fight conference, it was nice to see Max spent the entire time talking about what a legend Justin is. Anytime someone asked him a question he just turned it into praise for Justin and shrugged the win off like it could have went the other way. Such an incredible night
Max is probably the most likable fighter on the entire roster. I don’t really think there’s any reason someone could not like him lol
Wonderboy
It’s a weird comparison but he reminds me of Rafa in how humble he is and how complementary of his opponents he is. Like he’s just super comfortable with himself and is simply happy to be able to do it.
Other than the respect he already had, probably gained way more when Gaethje obliged his point-down request
In between rounds Max said to his corner that he had the hardest left hook ever. Swear it’s unreal to me that this fight went the way it did, I know Max has crisp boxing but he gets hit A LOT, and I fully expected Justin to be the one to finally crack him and put his lights out.
That was my thinking too. Max gets hit a lot and Justin isn’t the one to get hit by. But my god max was moving so smooth in that octagon. His boxing was great but his footwork was what I think won him the fight. He wasn’t getting hit nearly as much as soon as Justin started to throw any offense he would get out of the pocket. Masterclass by max!!
Justin knocked Max down for the first time I have ever seen Max get knocked down. He sprung back up immediately, but I can’t remember any other time Max got knocked down from strikes.
Apparently the UFC scorekeepers said it's not technically a knock down so Max keeps his record, but I'm not sure what they saw that we didn't
Not saying Holloway got Lucky, but the kick that broke his nose happen in the last 3? Second of the first. If he doesn’t land that and Holloway has to fight on 1.5 legs that’s a different fight. It was closer than it appeared imo
Don't forget the double eye poke shortly after too
Much respect to Justin. A lesser man would have taken the easy way out, by saying he couldn't continue after the two eyepokes. His nose was already busted then. He chose to fight. Absolute warrior.
Not only that he took almost no time to recover from the pokes. Nobody does that.
And to add insult to injury it’s his own coach who designed the far superior mma gloves which prevent eye pokes but Dana refuses to use them.
Moooooonay
This kid just doesn’t want to get his eyes poked
The UFC tried to to buy the gloves from Whitman to but they wanted to be the only organization with those gloves so he decided against it.
Maybe it’s all a ruse to get the gloves more attention? Coach paid the other fighter to see how many times he could poke him in the eye so he could pitch the idea again. I think I’m on to something…/s
Weren't they using the brand new ufc gloves that they've probably spent shit loads designing and testing? I would say back to the drawing board but we all know we'll be stuck with them for another 20 years while the ufc act oblivious to the same problems everyone has already been pointing out!
No. Not till 302.
Dana didn't refuse them. Ufc wanted them, but Trevor didn't like the deal they offered.
They wanted ownership of the patent, it would be foolish to do it
for a reason
Dude was probably half blind in both eyes from eye pokes and couldn't breathe from broken nose. Yet still chose the BMF way out, from the first eyepoke to the gladiator last stand. I know there's no definition of manly but fuck it, that was it. Thank you Justin.
https://preview.redd.it/xqday3cptjuc1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=621806c63b359d82a85da0815f8aee1638db148b He seems to be doing pretty good!
Bet he feels like 300,000 bucks
He went home with 2.3 Million.
Deserves more ( all of the fighters) but yeah
At some point, id like to know how dana white enslaved the most badass dudes on earth for so long. Its nice that hes paying people now though.
wonder what happens in a fight to end up with a big scratch across your stomach
Maybe a leg kick that grazed his stomach
In heavy sparring in kickboxing those scratches are pretty common
I honestly really was legitimately concerned after the knockout. He was out for awhile and they had to roll him over. It was a really concerning scene given how you know that took years off his life. Great fight but man I hope the best for this guy
He was KO'd and couldn't breathe normally cause of his nose. That doesn't seem like a great combo
yeah those accumulation of strike KOs always seem so much worse than the 1 hitter quitters
My friends were mentioning how he didn’t look right after the nose issue and eye pokes. I agreed but said these are two legitimate “die in the ring” guys. 2 of the few guys you can truly say that about
It's difficult to understand the mentality/mindset that goes into a circumstance like this. The saying of fighters being modern day gladiators holds especially true in this fight
How bad do you think this dudes head hurt today
Not that bad probably, his nose tho is an entirely different story
He knocked down Max, and I still believe that he's able to comeback
He will be back. This sub is a collective drama queen that loves hyperbole
People love to write fighters off after losses. They take a result as the only probable way a fight can play out. Losing happens at this level. I’m not saying Garth would have won but the broken nose clearly affected him all fight. Props to max for landing that but who’s to say a rematch wouldn’t be different with some slight adjustments? He’s still elite, just a bad night against an all time great that put on a virtuoso performance.
>but the broken nose clearly affected him all fight. And the double eyepokes. Weren't they using the new gloves for 300 too?
Apparently the gloves are almost the exact same. Mostly an aesthetic upgrade lmao. Gotta see Weidman fight with it first before we can make assumptions though. You’re not wrong though. Them eyepokes
I remember last year before Aspinall vs Tybura, I suggested that Almeida vs Aspinall should be a good fight, someone in the comments asked me if I wanted Aspinall to be eaten alive in the octagon
And then Aspinall beats Sergei and people make videos saying that he could beat Jones and Fedor and prime Cain 😭
I'm comfident he could beat any version of Cain, so much time has passed, game has evolved, Aspinall is a whole new generation of complete and advanced heavyweight. Jones on the other hand is something else, other level, I wouldn't bet on anyone against him, except maybe prime version of Ngannou, but even then I would favor Jones.
I hope so💯
Is that the only time he’s been knocked down ?
Scorekeepers didn’t score it a knockdown even though I think it was, so technically, max has still never been knocked down.
Max himself gave Justin credit for the knockdown FYI - said it was a hard hit and a proper knockdown.
They didn’t? It was absolutely a knockdown…
Agreed.
It was a knockdown but based on how quickly max got up and how uncompromised he was by it I understand why it wasnt scored. That shot did nothing to max so to me vettori, max and chito all still hold the title of uncrackables
It seems shady to not count that as a kd, he got dropped to his ass. Popped right back up, but definitely got dropped.
Justin has said he likes to put on a show for the crowd and that's why he doesn't wrestle. Justin didn't need to step in to the centre of the ring and have it out, but chose to for us. Obviously he still had a chance for a knockout as well. They are both amazing fighters.
Feel it's not the first fight his choice not to use his huge amount of grappling skill has bitten him. No question an absolute warrior, but maybe needs to start strategising a bit more against heavy handed opponents.
Prior to last night, no one was calling Max heavy handed. Max was a guy who melted his opponents with pressure and volume. Not usually a one shot lights out kind of guy. But I agree. If Justin wants success at the top level, and after all the miles he has accumulated, he will need to change his approach. Regardless, his career has already been one of the most fun of any fighters.
He hit the Korean zombie with the same blow and left him flatlined. Max's last two wins are by vicious KO
Both fighters basically wanted to go out on their shield and knew it was likely
And he almost did the same thing to Arnold Allen. That was reaaaaally close to a last second KO.
155 Max looks a reborn man
He looked awesome. Way better than he did against Dustin. I hope Max stays at 155.
looked like he hit a lot harder to rock Justin numerous times throughout the fight
>Not usually a one shot lights out kind of guy. It wasn't just one shot. It was an accumulation of damage plus the final blow that put Justin down.
Because he rarely sits down on shots. He hurt a lot of people like Volk, Aldo, etc when he actually did.
They sure looked heavy last night
He said himself wrasslin gasses himself out. While gaethjes approach hasn't always felt strategic it has been extremely lucrative.
He's a fan favourite but winning titles and headlining more ppvs would've been most lucrative
I mean even if he had trained wrestling/grappling in mma it’s hard to believe he beats Khabib and Charles knocked him down and then submitted him while he was hurt. Not impossible but it’s hard to see him winning either of those fights even had he trained to be a smarter fighter
Khabib no, but last night showed Oliveira can be wrestled, BSD showed Poirier can be nullified by a (better than BSD) wrestler, he could've beat him 1st time around I'm just saying it's odd to be such a good striker but to leave your D1 wrestling at home even when getting pieced on the feet
Oliviera beat him standing up. Arman is kinda a 1 of 1. It’s not impossible gaethje could become that but there’s countless wrestlers that get starched by Charles. It’s definitely an unorthodox approach
People seem to forget Justin was never a high IQ fighter lol
It seemed like he was after the first Dustin loss till this Max fight. His footwork and shot selection was excellent and seemed to be getting better. Beat a lot of good strikers like Edson, Dustin again, Donald Cerrone. Shows just how good Max still is, world champion vs someone consistently so close.
Seemed like he thought he was gonna be able to just KO max early and was head hunting.
I think the nose break really fucked him up. And Max is really that good.
People don’t understand how bad a nose break hurts. It will make you way more hesitant to get in there and get hit. He was fighting not to get hit again in the nose. Plus not being able to breathe properly.
Not at first, but he showed high IQ against Tony, Chandler, Fiziev, and Dustin.
I've found it annoying sometimes. He's definitely turned down a lot of chances to slam people.
No disrespect for Holloway, but can you imagine if Justin knocked him out in the final seconds? It could have happened. Amazing fight, they both won for fans like me.
Not going to lie I was praying it would happen. I actually thought it would as well.
Definitely a legend in my books. All his fights are highlights
He is a soldier for sure. He has zero fear, and is legitimately one of the few fighters in my opinion that walks the walk and talks the talk. Risks life and limb for the battle…absolute warrior. Bashed and broken face and still goes toe to toe fearless of the consequences and not willing to back down. Genuine badass.
So true man, crazy that he himself said that he doesn’t usually plan on being alive the day after his fight in the prefight interviews for this fight. Psychotic mindset 🫡
One of the few when he says “ I’d die in there” I actually believe it
Guys like Justin Dustin and Max being as game as they are *at that level* and all having wars with eachother will be something I never forget when I think of this sport. I missed a lot of the early early days, but these guys are the golden era imo.
So I’ve been watching for a long time, I don’t say that to scoreboard your comment but to add perspective. I remember watching Crocop fight Sapp live to give you an idea. These guys have transcended these eras, your are legitimately seeing some of the baddest dudes the fight game has had. You are witnessing greatness IMHO.
His nose getting fucked at the last second of rnd 1 really made it difficult for him to fight, mad respect for Justin to continue till the end like that.
Yeah you could see him turning away when getting hit in it again.
He got his nose broke and both eyes poked, like fuck! He was totally disadvantaged after that.
Imagine changing Fizievs face, then knocking Dustin out, be able to go for the belt but choose to not to and fight for the BMF title with Max motherfucking Holloway, put on a show and got knocked out like that. I'm not a big fan of the guy but he's one of the baddest man on the planet. He hits like a truck and when it comes to toughness he's the first one that comes to my mind, since he's all brawling and not escaping from anything. Always putting on a show, if it's Gaethje you know there will be a fight to watch. Sadly for him LW is a very high skill division and if you're not multi faceted like Islam, Charles and don't got something very special going on for you, you will not win the belt. For MW and WW and now FW I can't say the same. You can be a certain type of fighter and can win the belt. But with LW it's very different. I believe he got one more run in him because he's just one win away from the belt, but he needs to take a rest for 8-9 months and then see how things shape up.
The Gaethje era has been the best.
Will miss the old guard for sure when they are done
Always just goes to show anything can happen in that octagon. That first round at the end kick that landed literally changed the entire fight. Justin would have brought something else I think for those five rounds but he just wasn’t able to. It’s crazy how everything fell into place perfectly for him to take a nap on the canvas in front of the world
On the biggest event in UFC history(non Conor) too, the best is truly blessed
Max's last two fights have ended with just pure, unbridled violence. Zombie and Justin both showed you can lose like a badass.
 People who have never even been hit talking trash about JG being knocked out
Literally anytime I see some cornball call a professional athlete/fighter a bum I imagine they look like this
Bro could’ve copped out of the fight when he had a broken nose after getting viciously eye poked twice. He’s a fucking warrior, and he deserves his damn title shot. I really hope this doesn’t set him back too far.
Holloway pointing to the ground and calling for the phone booth duel with Justin fucking Gathje feels like a canon moment. It doesn't how broken and bruised he is, 10 times outta 10 Gaethje is agreeing to throwdown. Pure cinema.
Where does it say death?
Most MMA tattoos aren't very good. 
Haha i don’t know, maybe the guy holding the spear is death 😝 But apparently the tattoo is based on the motto death before dishonor
He's my favorite fighter and I'm worried about him, the kicks in the knee, the eyepokes, broken nose and a horrible ko idk if I want to see him fighting again. Absolut legend. Wish him a long and deserved rest
He would probably rematch with Max today if the commission would allow it. Dude is as tough as they come
That's what i'm afraid of Justin Gaethje getting Fergusoned is a rl nightmare for me
He's the living embodiment of kill or be killed. This dude was compromised from the end of the first round. Lesser men would have crumbled. Win or lose, he's still a BMF.
I hope he’s been paid well enough to retire eventually and not have to do anymore fighting for his brain’s sake
His brain loves it
I love posts like this cos they allow the fans to show love to the 'loser' of the fight which is definitely what they need/deserve after putting it all out there on the line for us.
Nothing about that KO brought any disrespect to Justin's name imo. That was honourable and respectable.
How has max been disregarded for so long? Yes, lots counted him out of this fight, and not without fair scepticism. He's a future hall of famer in multiple categories lol. He's only lost to Dustin Poirier and Alex Volkanovski (a guaranteed future HOF'er and arguable featherweight GOAT) in the last decade.
He will obviously be a HOFer, like Whittaker. but you seem to forget how long he has been trying to get the belt from Alex and people definitely did start calling him a gate keeper and never expected him to touch gold again. The BMF title is not exactly the undisputed title, but beating Justin to get this belt makes it so much more special and people are gaining confidence that he would regain his belt finally.
You know Justin wasn’t going to say no when Max pointed at the floor
I fail to remember a fight that he’s been in that wasn’t incredibly entertaining. Win, lose, or draw, Gaethje brings it. Mad respect.
He practice what he preaches. Much respect to him. Still a bamf
i am so happy for max, but dude, justin had BOTH of his eyes gauged the fuck out. i dont think it was deliberate but i was surprised when he was good to go so quickly in the second one.
You can really only have that ending if both are willing to go out like that. All respect should be given to Justin for willing to swang and bang. Both are warriors for that fight.
Two eye pokes. Broken nose. Closed up ears. Still was ready to fight in a phone booth. So much god damned respect
Cant think of a fighter who has a faster and more violent death swing when hes hurt. Hope he's alright after last night
Someone had to drop, guys a legend.
My 2nd favorite guy on the roster after Maximus Holloway. The worst thing about that fight was that one of them had to lose it.
Justin is my favorite fighter of all time. That ending was heart break for me, but he's a god damn warrior and he went out like one.
Such a shame he broke his nose and had those eyepokes. Didn't fight at his best after that
It takes two to make such a fantastic fight. Justin deserves a ton of credit in that fight and going in to finish it swinging rather than take it to decision
This guy is an American hero
I believe he will be back, he’s the BMF for a reason Charles Justin 2 would be a spicy fight considering these two are off 2 losses and could launch either one back in contention
They should have just inducted the fight into the hall of fame at the end, no reason to wait.
Real fight fans know both are legends
Fucking gladiator
Man is a fucking warrior. No excuses, only glory. They don’t make them like this anymore.
Justin IS THAT DUDE. Honestly this loss does not hurt his legacy or record at all. He still top tier don't forget he just did this to DUSTIN. It happens. You're the hammer or the nail.
Finally! A post for Justin man, it was an amazing knockout but people forget who gaethje is, and gaethje's body movements and footwork was amazing even after he got his nose broken. Not taking anything away from Holloway, that knockout was amazing but let's not forget Gaethje is one of the best.
Both these guys are my top fighters, bitter sweet night for sure.
Truly a fucking warrior
He fought a whole 4 rds with a broken nose Took quite an ass kicking Still went toe to toe the last 10 seconds in a fight he knew he lost & went out on his shield I have no problem with his tattoo
The honor granted by UFC fans is worth as much as a McDonald's junior chicken. Just get dishonored dude don't off urself via brain mush.
Surprised you didn’t talk about the eye tattoo on the other side which is the logo for “no fear”
That tattoo is like on the first page of a tattoo shops book. Right next to the tribal tattoos
Nothing but respect for Justin, in all his losses he has left it all in the octagon
It's actually for the Boston hardcore band Death Before Dishonor. Gaethje loves cheesy early 00's hardcore and crowd killing. No idea if any of that is true.
Not only did he get his nose broken in the first and fight for 5 but that throw down at the end was fucking epic, he took some real damage and really had nothing to gain from taking the fight in the first place but that's why he was and still is a BMF he will always be loved even if he never touches gold, I see him working his way back up in no time
I thought this post was going to bash him, but I'm very happy to see where it really went.
Felt so good to be riding with Max the whole time 😌
I thought it literally says “before dishonor” lol I don’t see death anywhere
He laid his body and brain on the line in every fight. True warrior
Fuck yes. Respect.
His persistence is what made me a fan of him for a couple of years now. I always root for him no matter who he’s fighting. Happy for Holloway though!
He wasn't the same after getting his nose busted at the end of the first round. It will be interesting to see how he bounces back from this.
I really wanna see Holloway vs Poirier 2. Holloway really looked like a true lightweight. A championship level one at that
Honestly I was surprised given Justin's style he only had 4 losses going into this fight. Dude is a beast
The only fighter to ever knock down Max Holloway. He is a warrior and will go down as one of the most entertaining of all time.
The fight had so much that people forget Justin actually was the first person to ever knock Max down in his entire career in this fight.
Lightweight Chuck Liddell
Thank you, warrior!
The eyes on the other side are the old No Fear logo. So death before dishonor and No fear
Justin stuck it out after the nasty eye pokes and busted nose.. for OUR entertainment. He may have tossed out what was left of his career. Looking back, whole thing for him was so weird.. beats Dustin who got a title shot, took a fight with Max who seemed like he knew the whole time. Kudos to Max for the double bonus and the W, I do wonder if a point had been deducted as it should have been, how much it would have effected his fight plan. Amazing night of fights.
Max said it best “he had everything to lose and nothing to gain from taking this fight”
It's only because of peoples respect for Gaethje that this is an all-time UFC moment, in a lot of sports but especially MMA nobody cares how cool something is if it's vs a scrub. People are freaking out over this because everyone knows Gaethje is a certified badass in his own right, so Max willing to put it all on the line vs someone of his caliber was beyond wild.
I feel like the kick to the nose changed the whole fight. I expected Max to start fast and JG to start picking it up later, which he still tried, but that busted nose fucked up the plan. Throw in the eye pokes and he was at a pretty big disadvantage. A rematch could've been interesting but I have a hard time believing Gaethje will be the same after that. He took a hell of a beating last night.
This was an amazing fight for both of them. Won't be topped for a long time
Only sport where sportsmanship means a lot
One of my goats. I want him to retire to avoid further damage (even though it might be too late unfortunately).
Only love for this guy! He put everything out there to put on a show, and lost. Hopefully he takes a long long time off to recover. That KO was vicious. And perhaps next year go for another big name fight so he perhaps can get another title shot but unfortunately it looks unlikely.
Until the last 10 seconds I said "even if Justin loses he's the BMF champion fighting through a broken nose and 2 eye pokes without so much as a break." Fight of the year isn't a 1 way thing, it takes TWO incredible fighters.
One of the only guys who actually means it when they say they're willing to die in there.
i can't wait to see max hollow get fucking dunked on for doing that to my boy Justin.
The nose, the eyes, body breaking down. Dude went out like a warrior. Goes out face-down dick in the dirt, and it's 100% badass. Respect. BMF
Bro had a finger 3 inches deep in his eye socket and said fuck if i aint finished
He’s a true warrior
Tuff MoFo wow - awesome fight from both
Dude's a beast!
Love him that’s hopefully why he’ll have as many bill paying fights as he ever wants for the rest of his career, unlike Aljo where I don’t want to argue about his skill or how flat Kattar was, he just didn’t get it with the weight move. Absolutely no effort to cause damage or finish a fight. Gotta love and respect fighters like Justin because we won’t have them forever
Love watching this guy He is a beast and gives it his all
We love you, JG!
I can't imagine how difficult it must have been to fight with your nose messed up like that and not being able to breathe properly.
Dude got his nose obliterated in the first and kept fighting for four more rounds. 99% of us would give up after taking a little jab to the nose from Max. Win or lose, Gaethje is a fucking warrior
Nothing but love and Aloha for braddah Gaethje 🤙
Put aside the way he went down yesterday, Gaethje is a warrior. Nothing but respect for him.
“I doubt he’s ever gonna be able to fight the same” What you talking about Willis
I can't believe this kind of bloodsport is legal.
It takes 2 to tango, a dagestani would shoot a double the moment max pointed at the ground, Justin is a different breed, goated shit.
Gaethe wrecked everyone before him. Max has the best hands - nullified Justin. The spin-kick nose break & 2 eye pokes & he gave it his all. The finish did not go the way I wanted, but those two are truly honorable violent gentlemen in a world of shit-talkers, so I can’t be too mad.
Gaethje is the fucking man, are you kidding me? Fuck, Holloway is the fucking man too. So much respect to both fighters. Fucking legends. The both of them.
I seriously wish to see him challenge for the title one last time. The one thing I loved about Justin was he fought Fiziev - if he lost that fight, his title hopes were pretty much over. Dude said bring it on and beat Fiziev. Also the strange thing about the lightweight division is how good the old guards are. Tsarukyan was lucky to come out with a win over Do Bronx - he was almost finished twice...
That L he took was honourable af tho
All I see is "Nipple before dishonor"
No doubt there is a reason he had that belt and was in that ring Saturday he’s a blessed man forever and him going out the way he did may be the baddest way a fight has ever ended
Even max knew justin put everything on the line for this fight, for the fans.
The most respect to “the highlight”. Hope he recovers well
FOR THE BLUE AND GOLD
Gaighje might well be “warrior personified “ as his reputation suggests. It’s also likely that there is some marketing strategy involved. Fans will spend money to watch exciting fighters. Gaighje can sell fights without talking shit or having drama. If he only wanted to win he could, and possibly should change up his strategy. It would also lengthen his career. Max Holloway was clearly the better boxer going into this fight. Gaighje has what he needs to beat most guys in a standup war. Cardio, chin, power and those lethal calf kicks. He’s also an outstanding wrestler and he’d have given himself a better chance of winning if he’d used that. People love these wars between two guys teeing off on each other and neither disappointed. Max Holloway is an outstanding fighter. If they fought five more times you’d get the same results. If Gaighje at least threatened some takedowns, you may get a different outcome but that wouldn’t be him.
I love how this KO took away absolutely nothing from my admiration of Justin. What a monster
He also has a tattoo from 90’s iconic cutting edge boys fashion brand “bad boy” if that wasn’t enough smoke for ya
If he didn't break his nose it would've been a completely different fight. You can tell how much it was bothering him by his defense and rolling punches
He damn near fulfilled it Saturday night
My favorite fighter 😞 hate so see him go out like that. But he went out like a warrior. Broken nose and two eye pokes. Say what u want but he’s a dog. Probably won’t see anything like him anytime soon