Justin Gaethje revisits “Islam [Makhachev] is not Khabib [Nurmagomedov]” comments, explains “biggest difference” between Dagestan-born UFC champs

As a part of his recent breakdown of the current UFC lightweight champion, Justin Gaethje revisited a previous statement made on Islam Makhachev.

Gaethje spoke with CBS Sports reporter Shakiel Mahjouri just days ahead of his UFC 300 co-main event BMF title fight with Max Holloway. In the interview, Mahjouri brought up Gaethje previously noting that Makhachev 'is not' the same fighter as his predecessor, Khabib Nurmagomedov, and asked the lightweight star if he still felt that the statement was true.

'The Highlight' comedically re-stated the quote and gave his thoughts on what he felt the biggest difference between the two champions was. Gaethje said:

"I don't think I said that for sure. I think I said: 'I hope that [Makhachev] is not [the same fighter as Nurmagomedov].' Because that was a very tough fight for me. I think [Makhachev] is great and I think he's gonna be hard to beat. But he's not invincible. He knows that, I know that, the world knows it because he's been beat before. I think that's the biggest difference."

Gaethje enters UFC 300 off a knockout win over Dustin Poirier in the main event of UFC 291 to win the BMF belt, a victory that most believed at the time cemented himself as the next lightweight title challenger. Instead, Gaethje will defend his novelty title while ironically, Poirier appears to be the next opponent of Makhachev.

Should Gaethje pull off his third straight victory on April 13, a championship fight in his next outing would appear undeniable.

Watch the full interview with Justin Gaethje from YouTube below:

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Justin Gaethje vs. Max Holloway preview

Although not the UFC 300 main event, Justin Gaethje and Max Holloway appear to be the fight most fans are looking forward to on the loaded fight card. Both Gaethje and Holloway are amongst the fighters with the most post-fight bonuses in UFC history and will compete for the iconic BMF title.

Gaethje, 25-4, last defeated Dustin Poirier to win the BMF belt at UFC 291 with a second-round head kick knockout. The win gave 'The Highlight' his second straight victory after taking a decision over Rafael Fiziev at UFC 286.

Holloway enters the matchup on his two-fight win streak with back-to-back wins over 'The Korean Zombie' Chan-Sung Jung and Arnold Allen. Holloway returns to lightweight in the fight for the first time since challenging Poirier for the interim title in 2019.