UFC 300 is upon us!!!
OK, that intro is perhaps a tad too dramatic, given we haven’t precisely been blessed with an earth-shattering foremost occasion this Saturday. However 300 remains to be a hefty quantity for the UFC to have reached, and you may’t argue with the lineup. Is it the very best, most hyped card in fight sports activities? Perhaps not.
However you finest imagine it’s the deepest.
We don’t must go over each champion, former champion, contender, and fan favourite on this card. However if you happen to can’t discover no less than 4 or 5 fights to like, then that’s a you downside. Knockout king Alex Pereira taking over the unflinchingly assured Jamahal Hill? Zhang Weili, the very best feminine fighter on this planet, going through fellow Chinese language star Yan Xiaonan? Justin Gaethje and Max Holloway assembly in a dream match to find out simply who’s formally the baddest m***********? It’s all spectacular.
That’s not even mentioning former light-weight champion Charles Oliveira having to carry off younger juggernaut Arman Tsarukyan, and may’t-miss prospect Bo Nickal opening one of the vital extremely anticipated pay-per-views ever.
What are you ready for? Let’s dive into the primary card picks.
What: UFC 300
The place: T-Cellular Enviornment in Las Vegas
When: Saturday, April 13. The cardboard begins with a four-fight early prelims portion on ESPN and ESPN+ at 6 p.m. ET, with persevering with protection of the four-fight prelim card additionally on ESPN and ESPN+ starting at 8 p.m. ET. The five-fight foremost card begins at 10 p.m. ET and is obtainable completely on ESPN+ pay-per-view.
(Numbers in parentheses point out standing in MMA Combating’s World Rankings and Pound-for-Pound Rankings)
Alex Pereira (1, P4P-4) vs. Jamahal Hill (4)
It’s not Conor McGregor vs. whoever, like some individuals needed, however Alex Pereira vs. Jamahal Hill is one hell of a scrap to shut out a card of this magnitude. You’ve bought the “champ-champ” vs. the champ that didn’t lose his belt within the cage, a excessive chance of somebody getting slept, and loads of dangerous blood relationship again to Hill retiring Pereira’s grasp, so to talk. You may’t ask for far more than that.
Properly, you could possibly ask for a 100% wholesome Hill. Coming off of an Achilles’ tear, Hill has stated all the suitable issues about being absolutely recovered from the damage. He’s younger and in improbable form, so it’s totally attainable that with the very best medical consideration, he’s able to be at his finest come combat night time. However as soon as he eats a few leg kicks from Pereira, we’re all going to be questioning if he made a mistake not pushing again a return to motion.
Even when Hill is at his finest, it is a coin toss. Hill confirmed within the Glover Teixeira combat that he can combat a sensible 5 rounds, and consulting Israel Adesanya on how you can cope with the power-punching “Poatan” can solely assist him. He can do an inexpensive impression of what Adesanya did in his first UFC title combat towards Pereira, and that is perhaps sufficient for Hill to win it.
It’s that one-pop stopping capability that makes it so tough to choose towards Pereira, even figuring out Hill has simply as a lot potential to finish this one early. I see Hill having success early, making the most of a sluggish begin from Pereira, earlier than the champion catches him with a trademark flurry for the knockout win.
Decide: Pereira
Zhang Weili (1, P4P-1) vs. Yan Xiaonan (3, P4P-10)
Zhang Weili and Yan Xiaonan, two Chinese language UFC fighters competing for a title, ought to be competing for the strawweight belt of their residence nation. However we’ve to accept T-Cellular Enviornment in Las Vegas. Alas.
It’s a disgrace, as a result of I’m undecided how jazzed up the gang can be to see Zhang win a lopsided combat over Yan, which comes after a brutal “BMF” battle and precedes the ultimate combat of the night time. As enjoyable as Zhang is to observe, she’s nonetheless under-appreciated by a lot of the fanbase, and that lack of recognition may rear its ugly head right here.
Too dangerous, as a result of the champ is about to place in work. On the ft, Zhang may face some dangerous moments, as Yan has among the finest standup in any of the UFC’s three girls’s divisions. Yan has discovered a sensible stability between being aggressive and discovering the timing to land her stiff proper hand. If there’s to be an upset, it is going to be Yan outworking Zhang on the ft for 5 rounds.
Zhang’s wrestling is what tilts the chances significantly in her favor. We noticed what Carla Esparza did to Yan and, frankly, if Mackenzie Dern had one dependable takedown entry, she most likely would have beat Yan, too. If Zhang will get Yan to the mat, she’s both punishing her en path to a 10-8, or discovering a end. Yan is hard, and she or he’ll hold in there so long as she will be able to, however this doesn’t go previous the third.
Decide: Zhang
Justin Gaethje (3, P4P-T14) vs. Max Holloway (FW-3, P4P-T18)
The way you view Max Holloway’s 2019 rematch with Dustin Poirier will inform you numerous about what you must count on to see when he returns to light-weight towards Justin Gaethje.
Positives: Holloway has the type of hanging output that has foiled Gaethje prior to now. The important thing to placing Gaethje down (assuming you’re not simply Khabib Nurmagomedov) is to hassle him from quite a lot of angles to open up his defenses and press the benefit late. Holloway landed a ton of strikes in his traditional five-rounder with Poirier, and if he can replicate that towards Gaethje, the door is open for a late end or a choice win.
Negatives: Holloway will get hit loads! This has been true all through his profession, which is unavoidable once you’re usually buying and selling punches with the likes of Alexander Volkanovski, Jose Aldo, and Frankie Edgar. However he’s steadily been in a position to energy by way of these conditions. He depends loads on his unassailable chin, which isn’t a sustainable technique towards Gaethje. I’m skeptical that Holloway’s protection is strong sufficient to keep away from Gaethje’s heaviest punches and leg kicks.
Anticipate yet one more traditional to be added to each males’s catalogues, with Gaethje’s dimension and energy being the distinction on the scorecards.
Decide: Gaethje
Charles Oliveira (2, P4P-6) vs. Arman Tsarukyan (4)
Arman Tsarukyan is so near getting his likelihood to show that he’s the person to steer the subsequent technology of lightweights. He’s simply not going by way of Charles Oliveira to do it.
“Do Bronx” has been the very best light-weight on this planet not named Khabib or Islam prior to now few years, so there’s no disgrace in Tsarukyan dropping to him. It is a traditional light-weight banger on paper, and Oliveira simply doesn’t lose these. You need to outsmart him, you need to out-technique him? Fantastic. You need to go in there and go straight at him to make a reputation for your self? Dangerous transfer, hotshot.
Tsarukyan is a to this point above the second tier of lightweights that it’s simple to see why he’ll be champion sometime. However Oliveira is a substantial step above anybody that he’s overwhelmed prior to now. He hasn’t had anybody put the warmth on him like Oliveira can. I’m fascinated to see how this one performs out, as a result of regardless of my confidence in Oliveira, Tsarukyan making the leap wouldn’t shock me within the slightest. Each these guys rule, I’m torn!
Sigh. Oliveira by submission.
Decide: Oliveira
Bo Nickal vs. Cody Brundage
All indicators level to a Bo Nickal showcase efficiency.
You may’t fully low cost the opportunity of a Cody Brundage upset, nonetheless. That is fight sports activities. Brundage has the makings of a correct underdog, too. You get the sense he isn’t shaken one bit by the place he’s been put in, and he has a knack for pulling finishes out of nowhere. If Nickal had been the sort to take his opponents frivolously, I’d be fearful.
However one factor Nickal has proven in his temporary MMA profession is respect for the craft, so you’ll be able to wager he’s taking Brundage as significantly as any of the elite wrestlers he confronted in faculty. It simply so occurs that Brundage’s base is wrestling, but when he makes an attempt to shoot on Nickal, he’s getting suplexed. That implies that at worst, Nickal can be compelled to face, a situation he’s been greater than snug with to this point.
Nickal’s explosiveness goes to be an excessive amount of for Brundage, who has a behavior of letting his opponents set the tone. That performs precisely into Nickal’s arms, as he’ll fortunately set a tempo that leaves Brundage within the mud effectively earlier than the tip of Spherical 1.
Decide: Nickal
Preliminaries (take a look at full preliminary predictions right here)
Jiri Prochazka def. Aleksandar Rakic
Calvin Kattar def. Aljamain Sterling
Holly Holm def. Kayla Harrison
Diego Lopes def. Sodiq Yusuff
Renato Moicano def. Jalin Turner
Marina Rodriguez def. Jessica Andrade
Bobby Inexperienced def. Jim Miller
Deiveson Figueiredo def. Cody Garbrandt
