Now that the dust has settled, and UFC 300 is officially a week in the past, I can give you an insight on just how spectacular that night was and boy, was that ever one of the best fight cards I’ve seen, top to bottom. From the bloody wars to start off the night, to the most insane knockout I have ever witnessed, it was a great show. If you don’t know too much about the UFC, i’ll tell you all about it by starting off with telling you that the Ultimate Fighting Championship is the biggest mixed martial arts promotion in the world since 1993. If you weren’t a big fan of the event before Saturday, then you picked the right time to start watching as this event was easily the biggest night in mixed martial arts history, and I’ll tell you why. The President of the UFC, Dana White knew this card had to be unlike any other, and that’s why he said that “in the history of combat sports, there has never been a card better than this, top to bottom” and that was not a prediction, but just an insight into how spectacular this event came to be.
First off, just to give you a little background on the mega event, Dana White, had changed the fight of the night bonus alongside the performance of the night bonus from $50k, all the way up to $300k. This was a power move from White as fighter pay has been a topic of discussion for awhile now, and with this bonus, it gives fighters an incentive to perform at a whole nother level. Even if you weren’t a huge fan of the UFC going into this event, you probably were after. A cumulative of 13 different fighters on the card held championship gold at some point, alongside 16 fighters that are currently ranked in the top 15 and crazy enough, UFC 300 took place 11,111 days after the inaugural UFC 1 went down.
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The event began with the early preliminary fights, in which usually the fighters are middle of the pack fighters, you don’t see many big names but that was all different for UFC 300. This card was supposed to have you sitting in your seat from the very first fight to the main event, and the only time I had gotten out of my seat was to go to the washroom or just go and grab a quick beer, so I’d say that Dana White delivered with his promise. If you were watching with me on Saturday, you would’ve seen me glued to the screen with non stop excitement, and that probably goes hand and hand with any other UFC enthusiasts that tuned in.
Early Preliminary Card
The card started off with a huge bang, and it only went up from there. Opening up UFC 300 was former UFC Flyweight Champion Deiveson “Figgy” Figueiredo taking on former UFC Bantamweight Champion Cody Garbrandt who also coached a season of the reality show, The Ultimate Fighter. It was an absolute battle until the inevitable happened and someone was finished. Figgy and Garbrandt were trading shots and grappling attempts but after Figgy was initially looking for the arm-triangle, he was able to land some clean strikes and transition into the rear naked choke, where Garbrandt had to give in and submit. Following the fight, Garbrandt had announced that he was hospitalized after the fight.
“I felt great in my fight, until I started to experience vertigo I couldn’t control the spinning once it was to the ground…I ended up going to the hospital where I was still experiencing the vertigo throwing up until 4 am. I’ll get this corrected, I’ve dealt with vertigo since 2012. Thank you to the fans that came out to support, it wasn’t my night, but I love doing what I do” said Garbrandt.
The fight that followed right after, was the matchup that fans were enticed by due to their status. Jim Miller would take on Bobby Green, in which it would be a battle for the ages. Jim Miller’s has elite legend status as he is the only fighter to compete at UFC 100 in 2009, UFC 200 in 2016, and now completing the trilogy by fighting at UFC 300 in 2024. Whats even more impressive about this, is the fact that only one other fighter that fought on the UFC 200 card, remains active. Now, let me tell you about the fight a bit. It was a complete bood bath from the first round to the final round. Jim Miller’s main goal, was to put on a show for the fans in attendance and all across the world, and he delivered. Even though he wasn’t able to pull away with the victory, he was still able to leave his mark literally, by staining the mat for the rest of the night with his blood. Bobby Green picked up the decision victory in one of the biggest fights the early prelims have seen.
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The Main Card
Now when we talk about the main card, there is many different ways you could describe it. Historic, record breaking, sensational, or even mind-blowing. But the way I would describe it to you or anyone, is eye opening. Why? Because each fight delivered from the first round to the last, leaving fans and even myself in awe and hoping that I could see more events like this in the future. The main card consisted of two title fights and even a fight between two legends of the sport for the title of being the Baddest Motherf***er. Five fights, 6 former champions, one huge main card.
Former champion Charles Oliveira took on rising star Arman Tsarukyan in a 3 round lightweight clash, and that was the perfect fight for fans to tune into and set the bar as it made sure fans were ready for the upcoming title fights. If you are a fan of wrestling and grappling then this fight was made for you as Oliveira and Tsarukyan were showcasing their flawless transition and takedown skills as it was a battler of the wrestlers. The judges had the contest tied 19-19 in points going into the final round. Both corners know they needed to get in the octagon and walk out with a finish, but Arman Tsarukyan was able to state his case and give himself a bigger name by defeating Charles Oliveira by split decision.
The biggest fight of the night was between former champions Max Holloway and Justin Gaethje would class for the BMF title. This was a perfect matchup for any UFC fan as Holloway has been know for his ability to put on all time classics and showcase his iron chin of steel. He is known for not being knocked out and has even never been knocked down to the canvas. The fight was a complete slobberknocker as Holloway would piece up Gaethje with his powerful boxing abilities. At the end of round 2 before the buzzer went off, Holloway would hit Gaethje with a swift spinning back kick to the nose, shattering Gaethje’s nose. There was a slightly controversial moment in the fight where it looked like Holloway was knocked down for the first time in his career, but it was later discredited and counted as a slip instead.
The fight was near the end and it was already an all time classic. It looked like Holloway would cruise his way to a decision victory to capture the BMF title, but as time winded down to 20 seconds, Holloway would point at the mat to signal that they should swang and bang, and Gaethje would eventually agree and they began to throw haymakers. It was with one final second on the clock where Holloway would connect with the cleanest and meanest punch if i’ve seen, sending Gaethje falling face first to the canvas and laying him there outcold. It may have been the biggest holy sh*t moment I have ever witnessed, leaving me with my jaw touching the floor in awe.
The ref of that fight was well rounded Marc Goddard who has paid his dues. The third man in the cage with the fighters was Goddard and he was left in visible awe after the knockout and even asked for his reaction to be released. “I’d love the UFC to release the mic’d audio from me, I literally screamed out at that ending, first time in 20 years. It was an automatic reaction I guess. I’m still speechless. Still have goosebumps. Both of these guys are the epitome of our sport. Sheer class. What a privilege” said Goddard.
The final fight of the night was the main event for the UFC Light Heavyweight championship and decorated former two division champion Alex Pereira would defend his gold against the former holder of the belt, Jamahal Hill. Now i’ll be honest and admit it but Alex Pereira is one of the scariest dudes I have ever seen. His death stare and eyes that don’t move are just a frightening sight and I have no idea how his opponents remained calm and compose when standing across the octagon from the towering Brazillian kickboxer. Jamahal looks to recapture his championship gold which was once his, until he had to relinquish due to injury. Pereira and Hill began the fight trading exchanges as Hill was looking to dominant with his leg kicks, while Pereira would land clean punches constantly, despite being a kickboxer all of his life. Pereira would take a hard kick to the groin area, but before referee Herb Dean could step in, Pereira waved him off and not even 5 seconds later, he had flatlined hill in round one with a clean left hook and followed it up with ground and pound to retain his title.
Just like that, the main event was over in round one, and the whole UFC 300 experience was over, or so we thought. Heading into the post fight press conference, President and CEO of the UFC, Dana White would announce a couple mega fights for upcoming events. The biggest takeaway from those announcements was that finally after all the lengthy discussions, Conor McGregor would make his return to the octagon to take on Michael Chandler at UFC 303 in Las Vegas. If this event was able to et you into the sport, then you will not be disappointed with the future schedule of fights as Dana White has been putting on mega show after mega show, with the next event being next week as Nicolau takes on Perez on April 26th.
