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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Alex Pereira and Jamahal Hill were nothing but respectful on fight week before their title showdown in the headliner of UFC 300.

But after a raucous press conference, Hill showed a little gamesmanship by dangling a physical version of stone head Pereira uses for branding, later announcing to the crowd “the champ is here.” A mix of boos and cheers greeted him.

Check out the Pereira vs. Hill faceoff above. You can see full staredowns after the UFC 300 press conference below.

UFC 300 takes place Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The main card airs live on ESPN+ pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

In the fourth episode of UFC 300 Embedded, UFC 300 stars complete media obligations, Kayla Harrison gets a special UFC 300 jacket, Charles Oliveira and Jamahal Hill get in some last-minute training, Hill collects signatures from the fight card, including his opponent, UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira, who explains the word “chama.”

Check out the fourth episode of UFC 300 with the blockbuster fight card just two days away on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

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The entire UFC 300 fight card will participate in Thursday’s Pre-Fight Press Conference streaming live from Las Vegas.  

The event takes place on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena and is headlined by two world title bouts.  The middleweight title is on the line in the fight card’s main event between champion Alex Pereira and former titleholder Jamahal Hill. In the co-main event, women’s flyweight champion Zhang Weili puts her title on the line against Yan Xiaonan.

Also on the fight card, lightweight contender Justin Gaethje puts the symbolic “BMF” belt up against former featherweight champion Max Holloway.  

UFC 300 Pre-Fight Press Conference 

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Israel Adesanya missed out on a chance to fight on one of the biggest cards in UFC history, and he wasn’t happy about it.

Saturday’s UFC 300 event features a stacked lineup with a number of current and former champions. But Adesanya, who’s twice held the UFC’s middleweight title, isn’t one of them. Adesanya has previously said he wanted to fight champion Dricus du Plessis, but du Plessis was unable to make the April 13 date after a five-round battle with Sean Strickland at UFC 297 this past January.

Du Plessis confirmed that he made the call not to fight Adesanya at UFC 300, and that decision irked “The Last Stylebender,” according to manager Tim Simpson.

“Israel was very upset that he didn’t do it,” Simpson said of Adesanya on The MMA Hour. “Israel, kind of concurrent discussions of [him and fellow Simpson client Leon Edwards], so I was like, ‘S***, one of them’s going to end up [not being on the card].’ He was ready to go. I don’t think they would have done both of them. It would have been great. … He was ready, he was in. [Du Plessis for the belt] is what they were working on.

“I believe Dricus was not ready. I think he had some sort of procedure after the last fight. Again, this is what’s been put publicly by Israel and [coach] Eugene [Bareman]. But yeah, he really, really wanted it. He was upset. He wanted to be here and do it, he really, really wanted to do it. He loves big moments, the title fight coming back. That one came down to the wire, down to, I’d say, within a few hours before they announced [Jamahal] Hill and [Alex] Pereira, I was texting [UFC executive] Hunter [Campbell] and couldn’t get it done on Dricus’ side, but Izzy was ready to go.”

When they were told that du Plessis was unavailable, Simpsons team considered targeting a trilogy bout with longtime Adesanya rival and current light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira, but no discussions actually occurred.

Simpson remains confident Adesanya can book a title fight against du Plessis on the upcoming UFC 305 card on Aug. 17 in Perth. But he expects to wait for it to become official as the UFC finalizes its next wave of pay-per-views.

“Hopefully,” Simpson said of Adesanya finally facing off with du Plessis. “I think they’re both—obviously, this week’s massive—I think they’ll announce venues, but procedurally they like to announce fights in chronological order.

“So I think they’ve got to lock in whatever’s happening in June, whatever’s happening in July, and then go to August, but I can’t see why you wouldn’t do it. Both guys say they’re interested, it makes sense. South Africa’s very close to Perth—it’s a direct flight.”

Adesanya is coming off of a self-imposed hiatus following a disappointing loss to Strickland this past September that cost him the middleweight belt. Regardless, Simpson is confident his client can step right back into a title shot, especially since he believes there’s more than enough support for the grudge match.

“It’s obvious, no?” Simpson said. “Hate is so visceral online. It’s much easier to hear negativity online than it is to hear positivity. But I think if you could somehow take a real life poll, the vast majority of people would say, ‘Yeah, that’s the right fight.’ Online, it’s easy to focus on the negative. Sure, that opinion may be heard, but I think the actual opinion of fight fans, the people interested, would be overwhelmingly it’s Adesanya, right?”

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Fake Samurai?
| BJPenn.com

I guess he was secure after all.

If reigning bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley thought he was safe from the vengeance of former 135-pound titleholder Aljamain Sterling, simply because “Funk Master” fled to the featherweight class, then “Suga” is in for a rude awakening when Sterling captures his second crown in as many weight classes.

It all starts with a victory over Calvin Kattar at UFC 300 on Sat. night (April 13) in Las Vegas.

“I think if Max [Holloway] goes out there and he wins, I go out there and I win, and I look good doing it — Ilia Topuria already said what he said,” Sterling told reporters during the UFC 300 media day. “He says there’s no challengers, so why not just skip the line instead of getting in a tough gauntlet of a queue. The UFC, they do what they want, right? So if they offer you a title fight, you’d be kind of crazy to tell them no. So, if I go out there do my job, I look good on a huge, massive card, the rest will take care of itself.”

Holloway claims Topuria, current featherweight champion, brushed off a “Blessed” bout.

“I would lie if I said it didn’t bother me,” Sterling said about his knockout loss to O’Malley. “It’s not like O’Malley’s a bad fighter, he’s a really good fighter. I just think the timeline was very fitting for him. I would like to get that one back, especially if I can win the belt at 145. He’s talking about, ‘Oh, I wanna go get the jet and go to Spain.’ Bro, worry about Merab first, and let me worry about Calvin. If I get through Calvin and I can win the belt again, I would love to get that one back on that skinny guy.”

Teammate Merab Dvalishvili may beat him to the punch later this year.

MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 300 fight card right RIGHT HERE, starting with the early ESPN/ESPN+ “Prelims” matches at 6 p.m. ET, followed by the remaining undercard balance on ESPN/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET, before the UFC 300 PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV.

To check out the latest and greatest UFC 300: “Pereira vs. Hill” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive UFC 300 event archive right here. For the updated and finalized UFC 300 fight card and PPV lineup click here.

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