The BMF title will be successfully defended for the first time in history at UFC 300, if the oddsmakers are on point for Justin Gaethje vs. Max Holloway.
After claiming the BMF belt with a second-round knockout of Dustin Poirier in July, Gaethje (25-4 MMA, 8-4 UFC) will attempt to defend the strap when he meets former longtime featherweight titleholder Holloway (25-7 MMA, 21-7 UFC) at the April 13 event, which takes place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The opening odds have Gaethje favored to do so, as DraftKings.com has set him at -225, meaning a $225 bet would yield a $100 return. Holloway, meanwhile, is the +185 underdog, meaning a $100 bet on “Blessed” would return an additional $185.
Gaethje hankered for a lightweight title shot vs. Islam Makhachev after his win over Dustin Poirier in July. However, White recently announced a title eliminator bout between Charles Oliveira and Arman Tsarukyan, which left many outside observers wondering what was in store for Gaethje.
Should he win, Gaethje will become the first fighter to defend the BMF title. He will also extend his winning streak to three. He rides consecutive victories over Poirier and Rafael Fiziev into the April 13 bout.
Holloway moves to lightweight for the second time in his UFC tenure. Known perennially as the best UFC featherweight not named Alexander Volkanovski, Holloway has repeatedly defeated contenders – just not the champion. The odd situation of dominating other ranked fighters but being 0-3 against the reigning titleholder put Holloway in an unusual position.
In October, Holloway called for a fight vs. Gaethje, who didn’t seem that thrilled with the matchup. However, things have changed and UFC 300 has the third-ever BMF title fight.
The latest UFC 300 lineup includes:
- Justin Gaethje vs. Max Holloway – for BMF title
- Zhang Weili vs. Yan Xiaonan – for strawweight title
- Charles Oliveira vs. Arman Tsarukyan
- Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Cody Garbrandt
- Bobby Green vs. Jim Miller
- Jiri Prochazka vs. Aleksandar Rakic
- Calvin Kattar vs. Aljamain Sterling
- Cody Brundage vs. Bo Nickal
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 300.
