Max Holloway further ups the ante in reaction to Justin Gaethje’s $300,000 bonus request for UFC 300
Max Holloway and Justin Gaethje are set to go to war for the BMF title as part of UFC 300's stacked main card, scheduled for April 13.
'The Highlight' has more than earned the moniker he goes by, having secured 12 performance bonuses in his 12 UFC appearances. Ahead of his outing on the milestone pay-per-view card, Gaethje requested that the promotion increased the bonuses from $50,000 to $300,000 given the magnitude of the event.
His request is yet to be discussed by UFC CEO Dana White, but during Holloway's recent appearance in front of the media, he was informed of his opponent's comments.
'Blessed' unexpectedly upped the stakes, as he said this:
"Oh yeah, brother. When we do the fighter meeting - we always have fighter meetings [before the event] - I'm going to throw it out there. I'm gonna say $500k, so we can start going [back and forth], 'Okay, $400k. Then $300k. Okay final offer, $150k.' 'Cause it's UFC 300. It's huge. The two guys that's pushing the fight, that's asking for it. Why not?"
Watch Max Holloway's comments below from 6:50:
Max Holloway shares skepticism about Ilia Topuria wanting to fight him
The featherweight division has a new king after Ilia Topuria toppled previously long-reigning champion Alexander Volkanovski via knockout at UFC 298.
Topuria's victory could signal the beginning of a new era in the division, but 'El Matador' is yet to face the man who has dismantled every other title contender at featherweight, Max Holloway.
Despite losing to 'The Great' on three occasions, Holloway maintained his high ranking in the division by defeating all surging contenders offered to him. But having not faced Topuria on the Georgian-Spaniard's route to the title, there is hope that UFC matchmakers will now schedule a fight between the pair.
However, during his UFC 300 media day appearance, Blessed' shared his doubts that the new champion wanted to face him:
"Questionable. That's it. Questionable. Everybody keeps asking me what I think of Topuria. He's questionable. I'll fight him. You go ask him that question. Ask him that question about me. At the end of the day, I always wanted to fight for the title, I always wanted to do this... They gave me a lot of up-and-coming contenders, and then there was one that didn't come my way. So you can ask the UFC about that. Ask him the question." [10:35-11:08]