What was the opinion on Max' chances before the Gaethje fight?

[Ludwig von Mises]

I was worried for Max in the early goings. Was confident in him in a long, drawn out fight.

 

[Morris88]

When it was initially announced I thought he had little to no chance.

Then I watched his vlogs in the lead up and noticed he'd bulked up and also seemed laser focused, however I still thought he would lose, albeit in a more competitive fight than I'd first figured.

Was very happy to be proved completely wrong, one of the most legendary performances I've seen in recent times.

 

[Jackonfire]

When the fight was announced I figured Gaethje would probably win a comfortable decision. But once fight week was here and I gave it some serious thought I picked Holloway via KO. But I was picturing more of a tko situation where Max had worn Justin down over the course of the fight and had more in the tank to get the ref stoppage.

Never imagined a clean ko in the final second of the fight. That's the stuff of legends.

 

[Azure]

Max was supposed to get hospitalized

This was my prediction..

 

[FlyingDeathKick]

I thought he could win but expected him to take a lot of damage, possibly even career altering damage. While he was pretty dominant, he did take some damage. Idk if it will effect him but he got knocked down for the first time. Wasn't a big knockdown or anything tho, he was fine a split second later. I'm glad the fight went how it did tho because Max is a much better fighter than Gaethje, I was just worried about the size/power and style since Gaethje hits super hard, has great leg kicks and Max is known for eating leg kicks.

 

[The Accuser]

Does anybody remember the odds before fight week?

 

[Brendan The Hybrid Schaub]

I thought max would win a close fight but was worried, made it look much easier than I expected

 

[NoSmilez]

Probably low but it got higher when fight time came along. Max showed some pics where he actually put on some weight.

 

[haj02]

Gaethje was definitely favoured on here but Max did have some pretty vocal advocates.

 

[Harlekin]

Does anybody remember the odds before fight week?

Opening -280
Fight week -190 to -150

 

[The Accuser]

Opening -280
Fight week -190 to -150

That‘s not as onesided as I thought

 

[cburm]

I

As a HUGE Holloway fan I have to admit that I did not see a way for him to win this fight. I thought his style was eating too many punches and Gaethje is a very hard hitter.

I was sooo happy when I watched Max' performance! And I think many of us (definitely myself) can learn something from Max in terms of believing in yourself.

That's because my impression was that nobody seriously thought he could beat Gaethje: too skinny, bad striking defence (with a great chin though), no answer for leg kicks...

Now I have found a few "pros picks" that actually picked Max but before the fight I felt the general mood was that he stands no chance.

So my question: Did many of you predict a Max win or did you see many media opinions that gave Max a chance?

I had him winning I think he only lost to dp because he didn't add any real size or str to his size he couldn't take dps punches he was weak didn't have a full camp..

If you actually size up max the guy can prolly be a actual ww he's taller than most at lw and can gain weight easy.. but he starves himself and doesn't workout for strength to stay small enough for 145 .

Max can have power if he lets go of the 145 division I think his hands are the best he has speed prolly the top tier tdd at any division he's in.

I also followed his training and knew he was doing it right this time.

I knew gaethje wouldn't be a able to put him out with 1 punch and max had power in his shots if you watch him hitting this time he put on muscle.

I'd actually like to see if he makes weight for illia now max can beat every lw just on cardio if he does it right all the lws can barley do 5 rounds.

Other wise it would've looked similar to the dp fight gaethje has more power than dp and it woulda been a stopper for gaethje.

 

[Fatback96]

I knew he was better technically but I figured he’d get hurt anytime Gaethje touched him just like the Dustin fight and he’d lose a close decision after Gaethje gassed.

 

[Hog-train]

I legit felt horrible for Max because I love both fighters and was afraid Max would get demolished.

 

[WhiteMousse]

Almost everyone thought he was going to lose. I wanted him to win, and I thought he was going to get ktfo. I was sorely mistaken

 

[IneedSometop]

I thought it would be competitive for parts but at the end of the day Justin was going to be the bigger guy, stronger guy and his power would be what separates them.. I kind of had the Dustin Holloway fight in mind where Max just didn't react all that well to Dustin's power....boy was I wrong