- Kamaru Usman mentioned the things Justin Gaethje did wrong against Max Holloway
- “The Nigerian Nightmare” said the broken nose and accidental eye pokes made it difficult for “The Highlight” to continue fighting
Kamaru Usman thinks Justin Gaethje failed to make certain adjustments that could have increased his chances of beating Max Holloway at UFC 300.
Justin didn’t use his wrestling
Speaking on Pound 4 Pound with Kamaru & Henry, “The Nigerian Nightmare” pointed out that “The Highlight” opted to trade punches with “Blessed” instead of taking him down and capitalizing on his wrestling. For Usman, Gaethje could’ve found more success on the ground and the outcome of the fight would’ve been different.
“I think the place where things kind of might have went sideways is making the necessary adjustments in the fight. I think Justin is such a freaking good guy which is why he is your favorite fighter’s favorite fighter is he loves to enter entertain so much to where it’s, ‘Okay, you paid to see this type of fight, I’m gonna give you that type of fight,’ he’s that type of guy and to where I thought he could have made some adjustments,” Usman assessed.
“He is a wrestler. This fight’s completely different had Justin changed levels and took Max down once or twice and he can do it. He can 100% do it,” he added.
The broken nose and eye pokes also affected Justin’s performance
Usman also mentioned that the spinning kick towards the end of the opening round was also a factor as it broke Gaethje’s nose and affected his breathing. Apart from that, “The Nigerian Nightmare” then noted that the accidental eye pokes also impaired “The Highlight.”
“We can’t shy away from the fact that this man took that knee to the nose, the kick to the nose at the was it the end of the first round, just seconds left or if not zero time left, took that kick to the nose which plays a huge, huge part in potentially moving on in the fight because now you can’t breathe the way you want to breathe in that fight and on top of that, we have to see the two eye pokes I mean they were clear-cut legit eye pokes and it wasn’t that Max was doing it maliciously or on purpose. They happened and these are the type of things that can alter the outcome of a fight,” Usman explained.
Justin shouldn’t have stood tall
In the final moments of the fight, Gaethje got caught with a vicious hook that ultimately knocked him out. According to Usman, Gaethje could’ve avoided that if he didn’t stood tall in front of Holloway and exposed his chin in the wild exchange.
“Justin was not wrong. Justin is a game opponent. There’s a reason why he is ‘The Highlight’ and you know Justin took a chance… He was caught up tall, just like Trevor would tell us all the time, Don’t be up tall.’ He was caught up tall while Holloway was underneath, body shot, body shot, right hook over the top, Justin was caught standing up tall and that’s why that hook landed,” Usman said.
The knockout win saw Holloway becoming the UFC’s BMF. His sensational win is also being talked about as one of the best, if not the best KO in MMA history. On the other hand, Garthje saw his two-fight winning streak coming to an end and it is yet to be known if the defeat would affect his chances of earning a title shot in the lightweight division.
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