Kamaru Usman defended his teammate Justin Gaethje‘s performance in the UFC 300 fight against Max Holloway, suggesting that Gaethje could have changed the outcome by making strategic adjustments and noting that Holloway’s fouls affected Gaethje’s performance.
Kamaru Usman’s got his teammate’s back. No question about it.
Justin Gaethje’s loss in the “BMF” title fight against Max Holloway at UFC 300 was a shocker. It’s one for the MMA history books, folks. Holloway was cruising to a win, but then, bam! He throws caution to the wind and lands a knockout punch.
Usman shared his thoughts on his Pound 4 Pound podcast. He dissected what went wrong for Gaethje, his longtime training buddy. He started with a tactical tip that might’ve flipped the script.
“Where things might’ve gone sideways? Adjustments,” Usman said. “Justin’s such a good guy, your favorite fighter’s favorite fighter. He loves to entertain, like ‘You paid for this fight, I’ll give you this fight.’ But, he could’ve tweaked a few things.”
“He’s a wrestler. Imagine if he’d taken Max down once or twice. He can do it. 100 percent. If he’d done that, we might be looking at a different outcome. Just a few in-fight adjustments, you know?”
The fight wasn’t just about the last-second finish. There was drama from the get-go. Holloway damaged Gaethje’s nose with a spinning kick in Round 1. Then, there were those nasty eye pokes.
Usman gave Holloway his props, but pointed out the fouls messed with Gaethje’s game.
“We can’t ignore that kick to the nose at the end of the first round,” Usman said. “It messed with his breathing. And those eye pokes, they weren’t intentional, but they can change a fight.”
Henry Cejudo, Usman’s podcast partner, suggested Gaethje could’ve used more fakes. He asked if the UFC 300 knockout could change Gaethje’s career path.
Usman isn’t worried, as long as Gaethje takes a breather.
“I don’t think so,” Usman said. “He’s bounced back before. Eddie Alvarez. Dustin Poirier. He took his time, and he’ll do it again. It’s up to him how he wants to continue his career. But no, I don’t think it changes anything.”
“At the end of the day, that’s Justin Gaethje. That’s a Justin Gaethje move. That’s what the BMF does. That’s what we signed up for. That’s what the title is about. Who would’ve bet that Justin Gaethje loses that type of fight? No one.”