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ANAHEIM, CALIF – UFC 300’s main card is set!

After months of endless speculation and unrealistic expectations, UFC 300 got its main event last night (Sat., Feb 17, 2024) after UFC 298 ended: Alex Pereira vs. Jamahal Hill (read all about it here).

Shortly after UFC 298 concluded, the ESPN post-show revealed the UFC 300 main card lineup. Check out the screenshot below.

Eight former or current champions will be competing on the six-fight main card, which has never been done before in the history of the promotion.

The main card opens up with Calvin Kattar welcoming former Bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling to the Featherweight division.

The second fight on the card main card features a pivotal Light Heavyweight showdown and could be a No. 1 contender fight as former Light Heavyweight champion Jiri Prochazka takes on returning Aleksander Rakic.

Another potential No. 1 contender fight follows as former Lightweight champion Charles Oliveira takes on surging Armenian stud Arman Tsarukyan.

The final three fights are all five-round championship fights as former interim Lightweight champion Justin Gaethje puts his ‘Baddest Motherf—ker’ belt (and his Lightweight No. 1 contender spot) on the line against former Featherweight kingpin Max Holloway.

Zhang Weili vs. Yan Xiaonan – an all-Chinese showdown for the Strawweight championship takes the co-main event slot and Alex Pereira puts his 205 lb strap on the line against former Light Heavyweight champion Jamahal Hill.

Six awesome fights for an awesome historic card … and it’s only eight weeks away.

To checkout the latest and greatest UFC 300 fight card and rumors click here.

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UFC 300 finally has a main event, but it’s tough to say if many predicted Alex Pereira vs. Jamahal Hill would headline the historic card on April 13.

UFC CEO Dana White made the surprising announcement just after UFC 298 ended following rumors that initially swirled about Pereira defending light heavyweight title at UFC 301, which takes place in his native Brazil in May.

Instead, Pereira takes the top spot at UFC 300, while Hill returns to action for the first time since suffering a torn Achilles tendon that forced him to relinquish the light heavyweight title in 2023.

Addressing the main event, White said the decision to book Pereira vs. Hill really came down to timing and opportunity after the promotion sought out a number of different options. He added that UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards was a frontrunner to potentially headline the event, and he accepted each and every opponent thrown at him but nothing came to fruition.

“We were out there talking to lots of people, trying to make lots of fights,” White said at the UFC 298 post-fight press conference. “In this business, it’s about taking opportunities. Headlining UFC 300 with all the buzz and all the energy around it.

“Let me say this — Leon Edwards has had, like, three opponents throughout this thing. Leon Edwards doesn’t say no to anybody. This kid is an absolute stud. He’s had like three opponents thrown at him during UFC 300 [conversations] — yes, yes, yes. He was willing to take on anybody. Kid’s an absolute stud. Leon, thank you, much respect.”

Obviously, Edwards didn’t end up on the card, and White said despite plans to book at least one more fight for UFC 300, it won’t be the welterweight champion defending his title. White didn’t reveal the three opponents offered to Edwards, but he couldn’t say enough good things about “Rocky” after trying to line him up for a marquee bout in April.

“This guy doesn’t care – he’ll fight anybody,” White said about Edwards. “Think about this, we call, and we’re talking about UFC 300, you’re going to headline, you’re going to fight this guy. Then we call back and say, ‘You’re going to fight this guy.’ Then a third time we call and change opponents on him again. It’s just crazy.

“This guy could care less. He’s up for the challenge. He’s ready to fight anybody. I love it and respect it very much.”

As far as obstacles that stood in the way to book the most desirable UFC 300 main event possible, White promises there were no outrageous demands for more money – or other perks in exchange for taking the top spot on April 13.

White admitted that the biggest hurdle that the UFC had to clear really came down to stacking three pay-per-view cards in a row between UFC 298, UFC 299 and then UFC 300 that the cupboard was nearly bare. Thankfully, Pereira and Hill were available and ready to fight.

“This was not about money,” White said. “It was all about timing. We’ve got three killer cards in a row and in this business you have injuries and all kinds of other bulls*** that goes on behind the scenes. We’ve been talking about 300 forever. We were just trying to make the best fights that we could possibly make. We had two more fights to make and we’re trying to put on two bad ass fights.

“These two guys are it. I’m sure you saw the video, I walked through who they both are, what they’ve both done. Both guys are hungry. They both want it. No way that fight sucks.”

This will serve as another monumental achievement for Pereira, who came to the UFC less than three years ago with only four MMA fights on his resume, but now he’s about to headline one of the biggest cards in the company’s history and he’s defending his second divisional title after already winning middleweight gold in the past.

“[Alex Pereira with] how fast he did it, in such a short amount of time, two different weight classes,” White said about the current UFC light heavyweight champion. “A guy coming from basically one style and being able to accomplish what he’s accomplished here, obviously it was impressive when [Israel Adesanya] did it and now this guy did it even faster and in two different weight classes.”

As for Hill, this will be his first fight since he won the light heavyweight title back in January 2023 when he defeated Pereira’s head coach and mentor, Glover Teixeira. Since then, Hill suffered the torn Achilles tendon that made him give up his belt, but White has confidence “Sweet Dreams” will be more than ready come UFC 300.

“I’m friends with Kelsey Plum from the WNBA, she had the same injury [as Jamahal Hill],” White said. “She came back, and won MVP, and won a National Title. He’s been going to the [Performance Institute]. She recovered from that injury at the PI. So hopefully he’s good.”

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Conor McGregor was never considered for UFC 300.

Following Ilia Topuria’s shocking second-round knockout of Alexander Volkanovski to claim the featherweight world title in Anaheim, UFC CEO Dana White officially revealed that the UFC 300 main event on April 13 will be a light heavyweight title fight between reigning champion Alex Pereira and returning ex-titleholder Jamahal Hill.

While discussing the struggles of putting the landmark card together at the UFC 298 post-fight presser, White revealed that Conor McGregor was never in the running the headline the event despite a slew of rumors suggesting otherwise. That prompted one reporter to question why exactly it was taking so long for the UFC to book the Irishman’s return.

White was quick to place the blame squarely on McGregor’s shoulders.

“We’ll be thrilled when he comes and fights, but money complicates a lot of things,” White said. “He just filmed a movie, he has to do press for the movie… He does want to fight this year, but we’ll see what happens”

White’s comments seemingly contradict those of McGregor who voiced his frustration over the delay in an interview with talkSPORT in December.

“The lads in the UFC aren’t talking any, the lads here (Saudis) are talking many, the lads in the UFC aren’t talking any …Give me something, it was supposed to be April, it was supposed to be December…no one in the history of the fight game has been treated like I’ve been getting treated. I’m waiting… My patience is running thin,” McGregor said.

So who exactly is to blame?

Unfortunately, we’ll probably never know the truth, but it does sound like McGregor’s previously guaranteed return in 2024 is no longer valid.

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Ilia Topuria talked a big game heading into his UFC 298 main event fight against Alexander Volkanovski, and he sure backed it up with a sensational knockout to become the brand new UFC featherweight champion.

What is the ceiling on the 27-year-old featherweight title holder?

Following Saturday’s pay-per-view event, MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck, Shaun Al-Shatti, Jed Meshew, and José Youngs react to Topuria’s crowning moment, discuss where he goes from here, and what comes next for Volkanovski after his second straight knockout loss.

Additionally, they’ll discuss Robert Whittaker’s hard fought victory over Paulo Costa in the co-main event, takeaways from main card wins from Ian Machado Garry, Merab Dvalishvili, Anthony Hernandez, plus a reaction from Dana White’s UFC 300 main event announcement of Alex Pereira vs. Jamahal Hill.

Watch the UFC 298 post-fight show above, or an audio-only version of the show can also be streamed below and on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever else you get your pods.

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UFC CEO Dana White announced the winners of the UFC 298 bonuses during the event’s post-fight press conference at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. on Saturday.  

Taking home the $ 50,00 bonuses were Ilia Topuria, Amanda Lemos, Mackenzie Dern, Anthony Hernandez, and Zhang Mingyang.  

Fight of the Night honors went to the women’s flyweight bout between Amanda Lemos and Mackenzie Dern.  Dern took an incredible amount of damage in the back and forth bout.  In the end, Lemos won via unanimous decision.  

Topuria banked a bonus for his main event knockout win over Alexander Volkanovski to win the UFC featherweight championship.  In the second round, Topuria connected with a left hand that backed Volkanovski up.  A follow up right hand sent Volkanovski slumping over on the canvas.  Topuria extended his undefeated record to 15-0.  

Middleweight Anthony Hernandez earned a bonus for his second-round submission win over Roman Kopylov.  After absorbing some shots in the opening round, Hernandez secured a takedown in the second frame.  He took Kopylov’s back and sunk in a rear-naked choke that forced Russian to tap out.  

The fifth bonus was awarded to light heavyweight Zhang Mingyang.  Zhang knocked out Brendson Ribeiro in early in the opening round of the first preliminary card bout.  With the win on Saturday, Zhang extended his unbeaten streak to 10 consecutive fights.  

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