Alexandre Pantoja | Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images
Alexandre Pantoja is set to headline his first UFC pay-per-view.
The main card lineup for UFC 301 was confirmed Saturday during the UFC 300 broadcast, with Pantoja defending his flyweight title in his home country of Brazil against Australia’s Steve Erceg.
UFC 301 takes place at Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro on May 4.
Pantoja seeks the second defense of his belt when he fights Erceg, a somewhat surprising challenger who earned his shot on the back of a 3-0 start to his UFC career. Overall, Erceg has won 11 straight fights.
The co-main event features the return of the legendary Jose Aldo. Often referred to as “The King of Rio,” Aldo seemingly retired from MMA in 2022 following a spectacular 18 career that included two reigns as UFC featherweight champion. He takes on rising contender Jonathan Martinez.
Also on the main card, one-time light heavyweight title challenger Anthony Smith fights Vitor Petrino, welterweight showman Michel Pereira takes on Ihor Potieria, and Paul Craig faces the streaking Caio Borralho in the middleweight opener.
Anderson Silva submits Chael Sonnen at UFC 117 | Esther Lin, MMA Fighting
One of the greatest rivalries in UFC history will now be immortalized forever in the UFC Hall of Fame.
During the UFC 300 broadcast on Saturday, the UFC announced that the fight between Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen at UFC 117 on Aug. 7, 2010, will be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame Fight Wing during International Fight Week (June 24-30) this summer in Las Vegas.
A fight we will never forget
Silva vs Sonnen 1, welcome to the UFC HOF! #UFC300 pic.twitter.com/MaN0f0rqZk
— UFC (@ufc) April 14, 2024
Silva and Sonnen have one of the most storied rivalries in UFC history, built largely on the back of Sonnen’s pro-wrestling style antics to hype the fight between the two. Riding a three-fight win streak heading into the fight, Sonnen was a sizeable underdog against the top pound-for-pound fighter in the sport but all that changed when Sonnen hurt Silva with an early punch and then proceeded to dominate “The Spider” for most of the fight with his relentless wrestling and ground and pound.
Sonnen was well on his way to winning the fight to the point that commentator Joe Rogan even joked about crowning him early, and that’s when “The Spider” sprung his trap. With less than two minutes left in the fight, Silva threw up a triangle from his back that caught Sonnen unaware and though he tried to fight it off, the combination of triangle and armbar forced a tap, earning Silva possibly the greatest comeback in UFC history.
Sonnen was in attendance Saturday at UFC 300 and was caught by surprised with the announcement.
CHAEL SONNEN AND ANDERSON SILVA ARE GOING INTO THE HALL OF FAME! #UFC300 | LIVE on TNT Sports & discovery+ pic.twitter.com/fqqfcLpx3B
— UFC on TNT Sports (@ufcontnt) April 14, 2024
Silva and Sonnen join former UFC champions Joanna Jedrzejczyk, Frankie Edgar, and former Pride champion Wanderlei Silva as 2024 Hall of Fame inductees.
The women’s strawweight title was on the line in the UFC 300 co-main event on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Champion Zhang Weili faced Yan Xiaonan in the first all Chinese title fight.
Weili defended her belt for the first time in his last fight, defeating Amanda Lemos via unanimous decision at UFC 292. Xiaonan entered the title bout coming off back-to-back wins over Mackenzie Dern and former champion Jessica Andrade.
After a brief feeling out process, Weili landed a leg kick. Xiaonan responded with a right hand. Weili connected with a leg kick and Xiaonan clinched. They separated seconds later. Weili landed a kick to the body. Xiaonan pressed forward and walked into a right hand. She clinched and took Weili down. She let the champion back to her feet. Xiaonan stepped into the pocket and knocked Weili down with a right hand. Weili immediately got back to her feet.
Weili pressed forward and landed a spinning back fist. She landed a right hand and closed the distance. Weili tossed Xiaonan to the canvas. She moved to side control. Xiaonan rolled and Weili took her back. She locked on a rear-naked choke but Xiaonan survived. She was out and staggered to her feet after the bell. The referee let the fight continue, but she was unconscious. MMAWeekly scored the round 10-9 for Weili.
Weili delivered a side kick to the body to start the second frame. Xiaonan pressed forward and Weili quickly took her down. Weili took Xiaonan’s back. Xiaonan rolled to her back. Weili maintained position in side control. Xiaonan scrambled but Weili stayed on top. With two minutes remaining, Weili took her back and hammered away with punches. She connected with a series of unanswered strikes before taking Xiaonan’s back.
Weili locked on an arm triangle choke. Xiaonan escaped the submission attempt and reversed Weili. Weili popped out the back and got to her feet. Xiaonan landed a right hand and a left at the bell. MMAWeekly scored the round 10-9 for Weili.
The third round started slowly before Xiaonan delivered a side kick to the body that knocked Weili back. Xiaonan connected with a right hand. Weili pressed forward but looked fatigued. Xiaonan landed a right hand that dropped Weili. She stood over Weili delivering kicks to the legs of Weili. After several kicks, Weili was let up to her feet during a break in the action.
Weili delivered a kick to the body. Weili landed a right hand but took one at the same time. Weili looked to get the fight to the ground but Xiaonan gained top position. Weili kicked Xiaonan off and got to her feet. Xiaonan caught a kick and swept Weili’s other leg taking her down. Weili quickly got back to her feet. Weili pressed forward behind punches and clinched and that’s how the round ended. MMAWeekly scored the round 10-9 for Xiaonan.
Weili connected with a kick to the body to start the third. Xiaonan connected with a right hand. She landed another right that knocked Weili down. Weili immediately got back to her feet. She drove forward and worked to get the fight to the ground. After securing the takedown, Weili looked to take Xiaonan’s back. Weili delivered short left hands while controlling one of Xiaonan’s wrists. Weili mixed in some punches. Xiaonan grabbed the cage but the referee saw it. Weili remained on her back and landing punches. She took Xiaonan’s back and delivered hammer fists. MMAWeekly scored the round 10-9 for Weili.
Between rounds, the referee warned Xiaonan about grabbing the cage and said that he’d take a point next time. Weili landed a head kick. She pressed forward and took Xiaonan down. Xiaonan scrambled to her feet and separated. Xiaonan connected with a combination. Weili went high with another kick before changing levels and taking Xiaonan down. She took her back but Xiaonan spun and got to half guard. Weili delivered short left hands. Xiaonan rolled and Weili took her back. Xiaonan worked hard to get out of the position but Weili maintained control. She delivered short punches to the body and head until the round ended. MMAWeekly scored the round 10-9 for Weili.
The judges scored the fight for the champion via unanimous decision. The scorecards read 49–45, 49–45, and 49–45.
Holly Holm might be at a crossroads where her future is concerned.
The former bantamweight champion suffered a lopsided loss to two-time Olympic judo gold medalist Kayla Harrison at UFC 300 after she was taken down and choked out in the second round. The loss dropped Holm to 1-2 with one no contest in her past four fights with both losses coming via submission.
Following the disappointing loss, Holm took to social media to issue a statement about her performance.
“Well none of that went how I had envisioned over the last 10 weeks of this training camp,” Holm said. “I have no excuses. I had all the best coaching, the best teammates, the best sparring, all the help I could have even dreamed of asking for.
“I went out there and I lost all focus on the game plan. I did nothing that we trained for in this fight. All the respect to Kayla, she was the better fighter tonight.”
Early in the opening round, Holm invited a grappling exchange with Harrison, which seemed like a bad idea considering the former PFL champion almost certainly wanted the fight on the ground. Holm actually scored an early reversal but then found herself stuck under Harrison eating elbows and punches for nearly five consecutive minutes.
The situation only went from bad to worse in the second round when Harrison once again took Holm to the canvas, advanced to take her back before latching on the fight ending rear-naked choke.
At 42, Holm admitted in her statement that she needs time to process this loss before deciding what’s next for her career.
“I just know I’m capable of more than that,” Holm said. “I’m one of those that likes to self-reflect rather than run from things. I think honesty with yourself can sometimes be the hardest thing. But I’m healthy, my heart hurts, my ego hurts.
“But I just wanted to say thank you to all the fans that have always stood by my side and of course, my team, my coaches, my family, my friends. Much love to everybody, I appreciate you and I’ll be back.”
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UFC CEO Dana White praised Harrison for her debut performance as she lived up to the hype as one of the bigger free agent signings in recent history.
As for Holm, White continued to call her a legend in the sport but he believes her best days are behind her.
“I would love to see Holly retire,” White said at the UFC 300 post-fight press conference.
Obviously, Holm didn’t respond to White’s suggestion to call it a career but she’s also understandably still dealing with the immediate aftermath from her latest loss.
Whether she continues fighting or not, Holm maintains her position as one of the top women’s bantamweights of all time, especially after her shot heard round the world when she knocked out Ronda Rousey back in 2015.
White shrugged off Tsarukyan’s punch-up with a fan in the crowd, suggesting fans shouldn’t mess with fighters when they’re walking to the cage.
Arman Tsarukyan didn’t bother waiting until he got into the octagon before throwing his fists at UFC 300.
The bristly Armenian lightweight was barely twenty steps into his walkout when he bee-lined towards a fan in the stands and started throwing punches. He even went back for a second go after security dragged him away. It’s not something you see every day … but it will be if these fans keep disrespecting Arman.
“He showed me ‘F— you,’ and he wanted to punch me, and I wanted to punch him back,” Tsarukyan declared at the UFC 300 post-fight press conference. “That’s it. So guys, no one show me ‘F— you.’ It doesn’t matter who you are, I’m going to punch you in the face.”
Arman Tsarukyan punched a fan during his walkout to fight Charles Oliveira pic.twitter.com/DMoX27o8H1
— Happy Punch (@HappyPunch) April 14, 2024
“You can show me ‘F—’ from like 200 meters, I’m not going to punch you. But when you’re close to me, it’s, like automatically. I’m from Russia. Don’t do that please, or I’m going to go to prison in U.S.”
Tsarukyan would go on to beat Charles Oliveira via split-decision, putting him within striking distance of a lightweight title shot … if his little pre-fight punch-up didn’t put him in bad standing with the UFC. This isn’t even the first time Tsarukyan has brawled outside the cage.
Dana White sounded a bit exasperated with the situation but surprisingly chill when asked about the incident.
Dana White on Arman Tsarukyan punching a fan in the crowd: Yeah, you might not one to hang over the things and grab people when they’re walking out. #UFC300 pic.twitter.com/hewe9dTJxr
“You might not want to hang over the things and grab people when they’re walking out,” White said, referencing another fan who grabbed Charles Oliveira’s hand as “Do Bronx” walked out. “These guys are all f—ing hyped up and whatever. I’m sure we’re probably going to get sued. Uh, we’ll deal with that on Monday too.”
White’s commitment to letting chaos reign amongst his roster is impressive to witness. Fighters these days brawl at the hotel, brawl in the crowd, and brawl with the fans. None of it generates any pushback from the UFC any more, although it’s possible the Nevada State Athletic Commission might have something to say about this particular incident.
LAS VEGAS – UFC newcomer Kayla Harrison talks about her UFC 300 win over Holly Holm, the weight cut she endured to make 136 pounds, her response to Amanda Nunes and Cris Cyborg after her win, and more.
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