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‘Poatan’ plans on dispatching Jamahal Hill quickly in Las Vegas for UFC 300 and then competing again in Rio de Janeiro for UFC 301.

Alex Pereira is set to defend his light heavyweight title against Jamahal Hill at UFC 300 on April 13th. That’s some pretty big news for the champ, but he has larger ambitions for the year. If all goes according to plan, “Poatan” would like to turn around immediately after a win and headline UFC 301 in Brazil on May 4th as well.

In a new livestream on his YouTube channel, Pereira explained how the UFC 300 fight came together.

“As you guys saw, the UFC announced my fight for UFC 300,” he said through a translator. “We were in talks with the UFC to make this fight happen in Brazil, but then they came up with the idea to bring it a little earlier and make it for the UFC 300. Which for me is pretty good because I’m already been training hard.”

“Doing the fight a bit before expected is even better for me, I’ve been in good shape, I’m training hard, and I’m excited for the fight.”

“I always said that I wants to defend the belt in a very fast pace, in a row, two times,” Pereira said. “Now this would be the opportunity, with these cards being so close to each other, for me to be able to defend at UFC 300 and maybe in Rio [at UFC 301]. That is a very big possibility, because if I don’t get hurt, I did this before in kickboxing. So if everything goes fine I’ll try to defend the belt again very fast.”

That’s a pretty big ‘if,’ but Pereira ain’t lying: he had several years earlier in his kickboxing career where he fought six or seven times in one year. There’s a pretty big difference, though, between doing that for a regional kickboxing promotion and the UFC. “Poatan” would be fighting former champion Hill, and then facing the next No. 1 contender a month later.

It’s crazy, but Pereira sounds driven to make it happen. He also added some more talk about a move up to heavyweight in his near future. Could Alex become the first three weightclass champion in UFC history?

“For me, competing at heavyweight or fighting at UFC 301 right after UFC 300 is two things that are hard, but something I’m capable of doing,” he said. “I’m a big guy, I think I can reach the heavyweight division limit. It’s possible, yes. Let’s see for the future.”

Let’s see, indeed. My God this “Poatan!”

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The UFC 300 main card is finally official.

Following months of announcements and speculation about which fights would end up on the pay-per-view portion of the historic event, the UFC revealed the six bouts that will take place on the main card on April 13 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

It’s not usual for the UFC to feature six fights on the main card, especially with the final three bouts all having five rounds but that’s exactly what will happen in April.

The main event will see Alex Pereira defend his light heavyweight title against former champion Jamahal Hill in a fight that UFC CEO Dana White announced just after UFC 298 ended.

The co-main event will feature the strawweight title going up for grabs as reigning champion Zhang Weili takes on Yan Xiaonan.

The third fight with five rounds will be the “BMF” title bout as Justin Gaethje faces former featherweight champion Max Holloway in a highly anticipated matchup.

A new No. 1 contender will be determined at lightweight when former champion Charles Oliveira meets Armen Tsarukyan with the winner expected to move on and challenge champion Islam Makhachev later this year.

Another former light heavyweight champion will also appear on the card as Jiri Prochazka looks to bounce back from a loss in his last outing when he meets Aleksandr Rakic on April 13.

Finally, the opening bout on the main card will feature ex-bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling in his featherweight debut against perennial contender Calvin Kattar.

Those six fights make up the UFC 300 main card, although White did say that the promotion is still working on one more bout for the card but he didn’t mention if that could potentially shake up the bout order. The rest of the preliminary lineup will be confirmed at a later date but White previously said that the bantamweight fight between Cody Garbrandt and Deiveson Figueiredo would serve as the first fight of the night.

Here’s the UFC 300 main card as it stands:

MAIN EVENT: Alex Pereira vs. Jamahal Hill

CO-MAIN EVENT: Zhang Weili vs. Yan Xiaonan

Justin Gaethje vs. Max Holloway

Charles Oliveira vs. Arman Tsarukyan

Jiri Prochazka vs. Aleksandr Rakic

Aljamain Sterling vs. Calvin Kattar

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It’s been two years since we last saw Nate Diaz grace the UFC octagon, and it now seems like the legend is eager to return to action.

Things haven’t been very eventful for Diaz after he decided to fight out his UFC contract and make his rounds as an MMA free agent. Sure, he had a money fight with Jake Paul back in 2023 but lost via unanimous decision in what many considered a lackluster fight. According to Diaz, offers for similar money fights have come his way, but nothing has caught his eye.

Most recently, Diaz took to Instagram and posted a picture from his battle with Leon Edwards at UFC 263, with a caption reading: “Ready to rock already for real.”

Nate Diaz Hopes To Fight At UFC 300, Admits it Probably Won’t Happen

Nate Diaz has fully admitted to yearning for another UFC fight. In a recent interview, he talked about his desire to fight on the historic UFC 300 card but also was open about it not being likely to happen.

“I wanted to (fight at UFC 300), but I don’t think so,” Diaz sighed (H/T MMAKnockout). “I think I wanna do boxing, fight another fight or two. I could fight anybody in the world right now but no one can fight me. Everybody’s locked down to organizations… locked down to the UFC, PFL.”

Diaz went on to talk about the difficulty of finding fights as a free agent. According to him, promotions aren’t wanting to play ball, and he feels as if it’s a “We ain’t helping that guy” type of situation.

Regardless, there are still compelling fights for Diaz back in the UFC. The Conor McGregor trilogy fight has always captivated fans, and there are also the strange callouts of Leon Edwards that Diaz has been making over the years.

Do you think that Nate Diaz will ever make a UFC return?

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Featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski put his title on the line against undefeated Ilia Topuria in the UFC 298 main event on Saturday at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.  

Volkanovski entered the fight coming off a knockout loss to lightweight champion Islam Makhachev in his last outing.  “The Great” moved up a weight class on 11-days notice to challenge for the 155-pound championship.  Many have questioned whether Volkanovski came back too soon.

Topuria entered the title fight ranked third in the division.  He finished four of his six UFC opponents and was coming off a one-sided decision win over Josh Emmett in his last match.  “El Matador” made a bold prediction in the lead-up to the event, claiming he’ll finish Volkanovski in the first round.

The two touched gloves and Topuria took the center of the octagon.  Volkanovski landed to the body with a kick followed by a leg kick.  He went to the body again with a kick.  Topuria tried to walk the champion down.  He connected with a right hand.  Volkanovski landed another kick to the body.  He went high with a kick but it was blocked.  Topuria stepped in with a hard leg kick.  He landed a jab.  

Volkanovski circled on the outside.  Topuria landed a leg kick.  Volkanovski switched stances.  He landed a kick to the body.  Volkanovski employed a lot of kicks.  Topuria landed a right hand followed by a second right hand.  With a minute remaining, Volkanovski landed back-to-back leg kicks.  Topuria pressed forward and Volkanovski clinched.  He delivered two knees to the body before they separated.  MMAWeekly scored the first round 10-9 for Volkanovski.  

They touched gloves to start the second frame.  Volkanovski delivered a body kick.  Topuria landed a right hand.  He pressed forward with punches but Volkanovski circled away.  Topuria connected with a combination.  He clinched and Volkanovski landed a knee on the break.  Volkanovski delivered a kick to the body.  Topuria stepped in with a right hand followed by a leg kick.  They exchanged jabs.  Topuria landed a leg kick.  Volkanovski delivered two jabs.  He landed another one.  Topuria pressed forward and landed a huge right hand that crumbled Volkanovski.  

Ilia Topuria is the new UFC featherweight champion.  The official time of the stoppage was 3:32 in the second round.    

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Merab Dvalishvili picked up the biggest win of his career at UFC 298. But it could have ended a lot sooner if it wasn’t for Mark Zuckerberg.

At Saturday’s post-event press conference, Dvalishvili was asked about the interaction he had with Zuckerberg, who was seated cageside at Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., to witness Dvalishvili defeat Henry Cejudo by unanimous decision.

Dvalishvili actually noticed Zuckerberg during the fight, and while he was thrilled that the Facebook founder was so invested in his fight, it might have distracted him from locking in a finishing choke in Round 2.

“Mark Zuckerberg, we became friends on social media,” Dvalishvili said. “He’s been supporting me and we send positive messages to each other. He did text me a couple of days ago that he would be at the fights, but he told me don’t tell no one. I keep a secret, of course. I know he was there and as soon as I go there I saw him and I say ‘Hi’ and ‘Good to see you in person.’

“During the rounds, he was telling me times, ‘30 seconds left,’ he was coaching me. He was my fourth corner tonight. So it’s just conversation and then when I got [Cejudo] in the choke, the choke was tight, but I got too excited. I was looking at Mark Zuckerberg and I had too much fun. Maybe I should focus to finish. You know, I’m just a fighter, I’m free, that’s what you do, that was a fun, good, positive conversation.”

Zuckerberg has been no stranger to the MMA scene in recent years, rubbing shoulders with UFC CEO Dana White at several events, participating in grappling competitions, and even entertaining talk of a fight with fellow billionaire Elon Musk that eventually fizzled.

There probably wasn’t much advice Zuckerberg could give to Dvalishvili, one of the best bantamweights in the world, but his presence was appreciated anyway.

“He was giving me some tips,” Dvalishvili said. “But you know, over there when I was fighting, it’s like good music. Like when you’re really running and you hear good music. I don’t remember exactly now when I look, but at the time it was nice, he was coaching me.”

“Yeah, absolutely,” Dvalishvili added when asked if he would corner Zuckerberg for a fight with Musk. “I will be in his corner even if he fights my coach.”

Dvalishvili’s UFC 298 triumph likely makes him the No. 1 contender to face the winner of the March 9 UFC 299 main event between bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley and Marlon Vera. Though Dvalishvili said he’d prefer to fight O’Malley—the man who defeated Dvalishvili’s close friend Aljamain Sterling to become champion—the Georgian star didn’t sound particularly concerned with who he puts his 10-fight win streak on the line against.

If anything, he was more focused on celebrating his countryman Ilia Topuria’s featherweight title win that close out Saturday’s show. Topuria knocked out longtime champion Alexander Volkanovski to become Georgia’s first UFC champion and Dvalishvili is poised to become the second before the end of 2024.

“Today’s a historical moment for the country of Georgia,” Dvalishvili said. “All the country was up, they wake up early, all the restaurants are booked, the people are watching in stadiums, everywhere, they’re in the streets now celebrating. As you guys see, so many Georgians came to the arena, the flag was everywhere. My country is proud. We have the first Georgian UFC champion, it means a lot.

“My country was always supporting me and I want to tell them thank you so much and I will just continue hard work, make them proud, and I will give a good example and motivation to young people. It doesn’t matter where you come from, you come from a farmer’s family like me, and if you work hard, hard work will pay off, and everything is possible.”

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