JOE ROGAN reckons the fear Max Holloway will feel ahead of his clash with Justin Gaethje will result in him turning one of his “best” performances.
The former featherweight champion returns to lightweight early on Sunday morning to challenge the fan favourite for the BMF title on a stacked UFC 300 card.
Holloway, 32, came up short in his first foray to 155lbs in April 2018, suffering a decision defeat to former interim titleholder Dustin Poirier.
Bookies have made the Hawaiian hitman an underdog ahead of the mouthwatering clash of fan favourites.
But Rogan believes the bout is far from a foregone conclusion, saying during a recent episode of his podcast: "I am interested in that.
"You want to know why?
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"Because a lot of people are counting Max out. Max has had a lot of time to prepare.
"One of the reasons I’m interested in this is because I think is Max is going to go into this with a tremendous sense of anticipation.
"This is not a fight where you don’t get real scared about.
"This is a fight where you really got to f***ing prepare.
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"And when Max gets pushed, you see the best Max.”
Despite a trio of losses to former featherweight king Alexander Volkanovski, Rogan insists Holloway is still one of the best in the world.
The veteran commentator continued: “He’s still only, what is he 33? Max is not out of his prime.
"We kind of put aside when a guy loses the title that maybe they’re not as good as they used to be. But Max keeps getting better.
"He’s a beast and he’s a sweetheart of a guy. One of the nicest guys.”
Former pound-for-pound king Volkanovski had great success with leg kicks in his first fight with Holloway in December 2019.
And Rogan believes they could potentially be his undoing against the notoriously lethal kicker that is Gaethje.
"That could be a real problem,” Rogan admitted. "And he had a problem with that against Volkanovski.
"And the thing is with Gaethje, is Gaethje lands them in the clinch. It’s insane. His flexibility is insane, it’s insane."