"Being reminded of how dangerous this is" - Justin Gaethje gets brutally honest about mindset heading into UFC 313 following KO loss to Max Holloway
Justin Gaethje opened up about his mindset heading into UFC 313 following his devastating knockout loss to Max Holloway at UFC 300. He spoke about the dangers of the sport and believes the knockout loss was a stark reminder of the risks involved in fighting the way he does.
Gaethje is scheduled to fight Rafael Fiziev, who he has already defeated in the past, but there remains lingering questions whether his knockout loss will affect his performance. Odds makers currently have 'The Highlight' listed as the betting underdog, so the general consensus is that his defeat to Holloway will result in a mental hurdle.
During his latest conversation with Daniel Cormier on his YouTube channel ahead of UFC 313, Gaethje stated that he will be fighting with a greater sense of uncertainty and compared it to his earlier fights. He mentioned that being knocked out was a wake-up call and is excited to return to the octagon:
"Being reminded of how dangerous this is, that never happens to you, you forget that that's a possibility. I think being reminded puts you into a more primal state when the fight actually comes and I think that's what it's going to do for me. You know, it's going to be back to the first couple fights in your career where you have no idea what to expect. And then, with age comes wisdom and you think you know it all and that is just never the case. This sport is so crazy."
Check out the full interview featuring Justin Gaethje's comments below (10:02):
Justin Gaethje discloses he watched Max Holloway fight for the first time ahead of UFC 313
During the aforementioned interaction, Justin Gaethje also revealed that he watched his bout against Max Holloway for the first time ahead of UFC 313.
Gaethje mentioned that he was curious about how he performed and believed it was much better than he initially thought:
"I was just sitting on the couch this morning and I was like, 'I'm going to watch it'. There was really not a lot of thought that went behind it. Yeah, I was like, 'I want to see how I performed'... I think I performed well. I think it's a crazy game." [11:00]
Check out the audience's reaction to Max Holloway's win over Justin Gaethje below: