Max wins

If Justin is smart, and lately he has been fighting smarter, he will do what Pereira is likely to do as well: kick like there is no tomorrow. Every sane mma fan likes Max, but I don’t see this ending well for him.
 
We've seen how composed Gaethje can be when he fought Ferguson. A high volume fighter with great cardio. Just like Holloway. So I don't know if his gas tank will be an issue. I also can't see Holloway's pillow fists posing much of a threat to him.

The deciding factor in this fight will be Max's durability. His ability to absorb Gaethje's hard shots. Because at one point or another Gaethje is gonna land some of those shots.

If Max can keep his usual pace and can get Gaethje to slow down during the fight I can see him potentially squeeking by with a decision.

Honestly that's probably the only way he can win this. Man's got some balls of steel taking this fight. I will certainly be rooting for him.
Max does throw a lot of arm punches, but he has ok power when he sits down on stuff. I remember Dustin saying he got stung in one of the rds against Max. I think with the extra muscle he can be more effective in this area.
 
Who has Justin ko'ed with his hands as of late? I think his power is seriously overrated. Chandler was walking him down with his hands around his waste like a retard and he survived. It's been a minute since Justin KO'ed anyone with one punch with his hands. Vick was good but a gust of wind could KO that dude.
Out of Gaethje's 25 career wins, 20 have been by (T)KO. Most of those being with his hands. And now he's showing that he is slick with his kicks as well. Even in fights that went the distance recently he knocked down all but Khabib and Fiziev. And we're fresh off Justin putting Dustin out with a head kick. If there is anything that Gaethje has that cannot be questioned, it's power. Not overrated at all.

I don't think Gaethje needs a KO to win. Max has a great output and footwork but has been overwhelmed by a powerful savy striker in Dustin before. Attacking the legs, mixing in the head kicks, and landing those heavy hands early on can absolutely carry Justin to a win. It'll be a good fight.
 
I changed my prediction after watching Justin warm up on the last embedded, Justin by destruction.

















Jk, 😜 😂 ✌️
 
And it won't be close after rd 2. The more time I've had to think about this fight, the more sure I am of the outcome (or more delusional).

This is a bad stylistic matchup for Justin imo. Max's boxing is quite a bit better imo. Those hooks of Justin ain't getting it done imo, not against Max who likes to stay at range and throw clean straight shots. Also the odds of Justin landing another clean head kick is virtually zero (that was a once in a lifetime deal imo).

Justin's low kicks won't be as much of a factor as people think. Max fights at range and Justin does most of his damage with low kicks in close. At range Justin's low kicks aren't nearly as effective and he oftens gets countered.

Final prediction: The fight becomes more or less one sided after rd 2, and Max most likely gets the dec win or late TKO.
Bro I love Dustin too but damn you still mad at Justin for the head kick? Justin will be the first to two or ko max.
 
Bro I love Dustin too but damn you still mad at Justin for the head kick? Justin will be the first to two or ko max.
You might be right, you might be wrong. Only one way to find out, sit back relax and watch the fight on Saturday.
 
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Gaethje has questionable fight IQ at best, and pretty much stops leg kicking whether they are working or not after the 1st round and a half. Think Max puts it on him after a close first round
 
I like Max chances in this and I love the price it pays
 
Max could win no doubt. I think with the importance of this event the refs will let the fights play out alot more than previous events. I dont see Max getting the standing TKO against Gaethje if he wins. He has to beat him down from pillar to post and possibly seperate Justin from consciousness. Either way this will be contender for FOTY easily. Cannot wait!

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I don't know...the moment this fight was announced I hated it. Still have the same feeling, Max will take some serious beating and I don't like seeing Holloway lose.
 
Dustin is always the nail for portions of his fights though tbf.

BSD was putting it on him before he got hit clean, Hooker would have finished him if there was 3 more seconds in round 2. Chandler was hurting him standing and throwing him around. Gaethje was beating the shit out of him way more in the first fight which Dustin won. Even Jim Miller beat the fuck out of him, I don't know how Poirier didn't get finished in that fight, his calf was a mess and he could barely stand.

Dustin's style just necessitates that a lot of his fights are back and forth, unless he totally outclasses the guy.

Gaethje used to fight like that, but since he got stopped back to back by Alvarez and Poirier, he has been much more defensively astute while keeping every ounce of venom in his offense.
Agree. Gaethje va Ferguson was the birth of this defensively astute and in control Gaethje. No more reckless abandon and sticking to the gameplan. His faith in Whitman is clear to see. It is this Gaethje wish I could have seen against Khabib and this Gaethje I want to see against Makhachev.

Poirier is another beast man. This guy, I wonder sometimes needs to feel in that dark place before he truly comes alive. Those bloodied 4th and 5th rounds, exhausted, hurt…….I can’t think of anyone better in those situations. As crisp as his boxing is, he does get tagged a lot as you say. He has never been as clean as Gaethje is nowadays.

Max can win but I think he would be better to play it relatively safe in the first 2 rounds before piling it on, maybe similar to what he did against Aldo in one of their fights.
 
I’d like to see it. If max can force the boxing match I think he’s got a good shot. Really comes down to how much Justin can force the issue with his leg kicks. If Justin can damage the legs his power advantage becomes a lot more of an issue for max if he’s less able to use footwork and reaction time to get out of the lane of Justin’s power shots
 
respectfully disagree. Max is too small for LW and is going up against another killer. MMAth never works, until it fucking does. DP BULLIED max when max tried to go up last time. people here like to pretend max won rounds, but i recall seeing a smaller, skinnier dude, get bossed the whole fight. Gaethje will be swinging for the moon, will inevitably land an eye poke or two as well. Gaethje by horrific life altering KO, and I say this as a fan of Max. This wasn't the move to make, the UFC is all out of fight match making ideas, and we are seeing a hired gun take out a FW potential title fight, all for the sake of ESPN+ subscriptions.
 
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