UFC 300 Preview
The UFC is making history at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday, April 13th for UFC 300. The event is loaded with three championship fights,10 former champions, and several top contender battles. The main event will be for the light heavyweight belt between current champion Alex Pereira and former champion Jamahal Hill.
Pereira won the vacant belt in his last fight with a second round TKO of Jiri Prochazka at UFC 295. He will be fighting in just his eighth UFC event, but it will be his fourth time battling in a title fight during his short time with the UFC. He is the former middleweight champion but is now looking for his first successful title defense in the UFC.
The Brazilian’s rise in the UFC has been unlike any we have seen in history. It only took him three fights in the UFC to earn his first title shot and just one win at light heavyweight before being granted a shot at the belt. Pereira’s legacy will be solidified if he can successfully defend the title on Saturday.
Pundits are still questioning whether Hill will be 100 percent for this fight after rupturing his Achilles tendon in July which caused him to vacate the title. Pereira is not making that a major concern. “I’m not really thinking too much about his time off and injury,” Pereira said. “I’d like to think that if he’s here, and he accepted the fight, it’s because he’s 100 percent. He knows what kind of responsibility this is, and he knows who he’ll be fighting. In my mind, he’s good, and I’m going to do my part.”
Pereira knows the importance of defending the title. “That’s my job, and I tried to do it the best I could,” Pereira said of his middleweight title defense loss. “I tried to defend the belt, but I lost. I’m not the first person this happens to. I’m changing my mentality, and I’m someone that’s very realistic. I know I can lose, but in my mind, I’m here to fight and win.”
Is Pereira feeling the pressure of headlining such a historical event? "If you stop and think about it, some fighters come from the regional circuit, they're fighting in their own countries on a smaller scale, then they go to the big shows and they feel a difference," he said. "I fought in front of more than 30,000 people when I was in Glory, which is the biggest kickboxing organization in the world. I don't think I've fought in front of that many people in the UFC, and the level of opponents I fought in Glory, I fought the all-time bests in my weight classes.
"Putting all of that together made me very, very seasoned when I got to the UFC. There were no jitters—nothing. I was prepared."
Pereira respects Hill’s abilities. "He's a former champion," Pereira said of his UFC 300 opponent. "He's well-rounded. In terms of striking, I think our levels are a bit far apart, but he's a very strong guy, and he hits hard.”
The champion is optimistic about fighting again soon if everything goes according to plan on Saturday. "I can definitely, absolutely fight at UFC 301," he said. "Everything will be fine, as long as I don't have injuries. If I leave this fight [with Hill] injury free, I'll use this training camp to fight on that card against anybody the UFC puts in front of me."
You would think at 36 years old Pereira would show signs of slowing down, but he continues to defy the odds. How long does he plan on fighting? "What motivates me is to keep writing history," he said. "That motivation never ends.
"People say, 'When will it end?' It will end when I can't fight anymore. As long as I can keep fighting, I'll keep going."
Hill has not fought since the beginning of 2023 where he won the vacant title at UFC 283 by unanimous decision over former champion Glover Texeira. The 32-year-old is 6-1-1 in the UFC and will now have the chance to win back the belt that he never defended.
Despite being a former champion, Hill has noticed a level of disrespect at his chances of winning from the MMA world. "There's some annoyance, there's a chip there. I want to go in and show who I truly am at my peak form. I believe at my peak form, there's nobody close to me. I'm not going to talk you to death, I'm not going to try and convince you of anything. I'll just show it,” Hill said.
He continued, "That's the reason why I stepped aside, for business to continue as usual. The show must go on, and I'm not exempt from that. I'm not a hater. I want to see people accomplish their goals. I want to see everybody make it, fulfilling their dreams.
"The division progressing only benefits me. I'm excited to see these new guys coming in, I'm excited to see these guys reinventing themselves. We're in for some great times: 205 hit the lottery. We have very solid talents and very solid fights upcoming in this division."
What is Hill’s prediction? "Domination. It's what I come with every time. One thing I've stood for the entire time I've stepped in this game, the entire time I've been active fighting, is domination."
The co-main event will be an all China battle for the strawweight title between champion Zhang Weili and #1 contender Yan Xiaonan.
Weili is a two-time champion and has defended the belt twice. She first won the belt back in 2019 with a first round TKO over Jessica Andrade in China. She would successfully defend the belt one time in one of the greatest fights of all-time against Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 248. After losing the belt at UFC 261 in 2021, Weili would work her way back to another title shot at UFC 281, where she became a two-time champion via a second-round submission of Carla Esparza. She has already solidified her position as one of the greatest female champions of all-time and a win on Saturday gets her closer to Hall of Fame status.
How does the champion feel about an all China title fight? “This is another fight for me, but on the other hand, this also means so much for the MMA sport’s development and growth in China,” Weili said.
Weili has respect for her opponent on Saturday. “I see that Xiaonan has grown a lot,” Weili said. “especially in her strength, as well as her grappling, on the ground, everything.”
Xiaonan is 8-2 in the UFC and most recently defeated former champion Jessica Andrade by first round KO last May at UFC 288. Since making her UFC debut in 2017, she has gained wins over Angela Hill, Karolina Kowalkiewicz, Claudia Gadelha, and Mackenzie Dern. She can now shock the world with her biggest win on Saturday.
How does Xiaonan feel about fighting her fellow Chinese fighter? “There are still more people supporting her,” Xiaonan said. “But I have my family, my friends and my coaching team supporting me. All my people will support me. To me, that’s enough.”
The 34-year-old knows she has to be at her best against Weili. “Weili is a great fighter. Every fight, she shows that to everybody,” Xiaonan said. “But I also believe I’m a good fighter. I think I will show you guys the best version of myself.”
A third title fight will be featured at UFC 300. BMF champion Justin Gaethje will defend his BMF title against former featherweight champion and all-time great Max Holloway. The fight will be fought at lightweight where Gaethje has fought most of his career. For Holloway out of his 32 fights will only be fighting at lightweight for the sixth time as he spent most of his career fighting at 145 pounds.
Gaethje won the title last July at UFC 291 with a second-round knockout in a rematch with lightweight contender Dustoin Poirier. The former interim lightweight champion has won two straight fights since unsuccessfully challenging for the lightweight title at UFC 274 in 2022.
The 35-year-old instantly became a fan-favorite with his calculated brawling style and he showcased his skills in key victories over Rafael Fiziev, Michael Chandler, Tony Ferguson, Donald Cerrone and Edson Barboza.
Gaethje has big plans if he wins on Saturday. “I know with a win here, I fight for the (lightweight) belt,” Gaethje said. “I know with a loss here, that all goes away. That’s what I’m fighting for.”
He continued, “I’m a quarter-mile at a time kind of guy,” Gaethje said. “I do not look too far ahead. Honestly, I have no clue what the future holds. I don’t usually plan on being alive the day after my fights, so hopefully I’m there on Sunday.
“… I don’t play what-ifs, but you don’t pass up a championship opportunity. I do want my time (off). I do think June would probably be impossible for me, as every time I fight is a traumatic life experience. I need to go home and unwind, take care of my body, take care of my head. But I have coaches and a manager who ultimately make those decisions, so if they say, ‘Go,’ I go.”
Max Holloway has won two straight fights having most recently defeated Chan Sung Jung via third round KO in August. The former champion defended the featherweight title three times and had three epic battles with Alexander Volkanovski, however coming up short in all three. He challenged for the interim lightweight title back in 2019 but lost a unanimous decision to Dustin Poirier.
The MMA world is wondering if Holloway will stay at lightweight or bid for another featherweight title shot. “We’ll see what happens,” Holloway said. “In this sport, having options is always good. First thing’s first is Justin Gaethje. But there is a fun fight down there, and that man keeps talking, and I keep hearing him. My only advice to (Topuria) is when the contract comes up, sign the dotted line. Don’t make any excuses.”
While Holloway is keeping his options open, it seems he has his eyes set on a featherweight title fight with newly crowned champion Ilia Topuria. “Questionable, I’d say,” Holloway said when asked about his opinion on Topuria. “Questionable. That guy, everyone keeps asking me what do I think of Topuria – and I think he’s questionable.
“I’d fight him, but you go ask him that question about me. At the end of the day, UFC, I always want to fight for that title. I always want to do this. A lot of contenders they gave me. They gave me a lot of up-and-coming contenders, and there’s one that didn’t come up toward my way. You can ask UFC about that. You can ask him the question.”
Holloway made his UFC debut in 2012 and since then he has collected key victories over Cub Swanson, Charles Oliveira, Jeremy Stephens, Ricardo Lamas, Anthony Pettis, Jose Aldo (twice), Brian Ortega, Frankie Edgar, Calvin Kattar, Yair Rodriguez and Arnold Allen. He is already a hall of famer, so with a win over Gaethje what else is left other than one more title shot?
The rest of the main card:
Lightweight - #1 Charles Oliveira vs. #4 Arman Tsarukyan
Middleweight - Bo Nickal vs. Cody Brundage
ESPN/ESPN+ Prelims:
Light Heavyweight - #2 Jiří Procházka vs. #5 Aleksandar Rakić
Featherweight - #8 Calvin Kattar vs. #2 (BW) Aljamain Sterling
Women's Bantamweight - #5 Holly Holm vs. Kayla Harrison
Featherweight - #13 Sodiq Yusuff vs. Diego Lopes
ESPN/ESPN+ Early Prelims:
Lightweight- #10 Jalin Turner vs. #13 Renato Moicano
Women's Strawweight - #4 Jéssica Andrade vs. #6 Marina Rodriguez
Lightweight #14 Bobby Green vs. Jim Miller
Bantamweight - #8 Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Cody Garbrandt
