Justin Gaethje has no regrets about UFC 300 knockout: ‘I will accept that challenge every single time’

Justin Gaethje has zero regrets about how UFC 300 ended.

Last April, Gaethje put his “BMF” title on the line against Max Holloway at UFC 300, and things did not go his way. After 24 minutes and 50 seconds of back-and-forth action, Holloway pointed to the ground and beckoned Gaethje to meet him in the middle for the final 10 seconds; “The Highlight” obliged and wound up on the receiving end of perhaps the greatest highlight in UFC history—Holloway’s iconic last-second knockout that won KO of the Year honors.

It’s bad enough to suffer a knockout loss that lives forever, but things only got worse for Gaethje after a clip went viral showing the former interim lightweight champion twitching while unconscious. But Gaethje has no shame about that clip, nor regrets about his choices in that fight against Holloway.

“I’m glad I saw it,” Gaethje told reporters at the UFC 313 Media Day. “From what I saw, I was trying to get up and fight. It’s just what I do. I choose ‘fight’ instead of ‘flight’ every single time, and that’s what I expect from myself: to try and get up.”

Gaethje was unable to get up and fight again at UFC 300, but now he has a chance to put that loss behind him on Saturday when he returns to the octagon for a rematch against Rafael Fiziev in the co-main event of UFC 313. Gaethje was originally set to face Dan Hooker in a highly-anticipated fight, but when Hooker withdrew due to a hand injury, Fiziev stepped in on short notice.

It’s a tough change of opponent for Gaethje, who beat Fiziev by majority decision when the two faced off in 2023, but 36-year-old lightweight says he never once hesitated about taking the fight this weekend.

“I love fighting. I got my ass knocked out last fight and I’m dying to get back in there and get that back,” Gaethje said. “At the end of the day, all these guys are very, very dangerous. We went through our options; I wanted [Arman] Tsarukyan or [Charles] Oliveira, but if I was them, I would never take the fight and I do not blame them for that. [Renato] Moicano piped up and then did not take the fight. That was my best option. And then it was just not fight, and I’ve been working so hard, that really wasn’t an option for me. ...

“I’m grateful for [Fiziev]. He was halfway — probably more than halfway across the world, however big the world is. He took the fight. He came over here. I applaud him for that. I love to perform and I was ready to perform. I was trying to make it happen.”

Regarded as two of the most exciting fighters in the lightweight division, Gaethje and Fiziev’s first fight earned Fight of the Night honors and was on the shortlist for Fight of the Year for 2023. As a result, both fighters acknowledge that another war is likely ahead of them on Saturday, and despite how things turned out for him at UFC 300, Gaethje insists he’s still just as ready to meet Fiziev in the center of the octagon and slug it out if his opponent replicates Holloway’s famous callout.

“If you’ve ever seen me fight, you know I will accept that challenge every single time,” Gaethje said. “When [Holloway] pointed at the ground I said yes and ran to the middle. So absolutely.”