Alex Pereira and Jamahal Hill is a great headlining fight. But why are MMA fans feeling let down?
UFC boss Dana White promised so much for UFC 300, a milestone event on April 13, and after hearing the other options in consideration, fight fans feel ripped off.
The UFC 300 card is super stacked. We've got nearly a dozen current or former champs on the roster. Yet there's still an empty hole in my heart for some sweetheart matchups that were left on the table
UFC 300: What Could've Been
Frankly, any of these matchups would've been better than what we got in the main event.
Leon Edwards vs Islam Makhachev
The pound-for-pound champ moving up to welterweight to challenge Birmingham's best? Yes, please.
Leon Edwards looked untouchable in his last fight vs Colby Covington, and barring a Shavkat Rakhmonov title shot, there aren't a ton of legit contenders for him to fight.
The Islam fight would've been massive. And give Edwards credit, White said the Brit accepted that matchup but the fight couldn't be finalized. King.
Dricus Du Plessis vs Israel Adesanya
There's been no shortage of vitriol in this Africa vs Africa matchup, and the stakes were raised after DDP claimed the middleweight title at UFC 297.
This is the next logical matchup for the 185-pound division. All the beef is there; the stylistic clash is intriguing, and Adesanya knows how to sell a fight. It's a missed opportunity that he's not on the UFC 300 card.
UFC 300: Okay, but what if?
Let's dream.
Conor McGregor vs Michael Chandler
Check, check, is this thing on? What the shizz is happening with this fight? The McGregor vs Chandler odds have been out forever, but there's been no fight to speak of.
Allow me to recap the timeline quickly:
- May 2023: McGregor and Chandler coach the Ultimate Fighter, teeing them up for a fight late this year
- July 2023: Dana White says he's hoping for a December 2023 fight date
- Christmas 2023: McGregor says he's fighting in June
- January 2024: White says he's hoping for fall 2024
Can these guys just brawl already? Weight class be damned. And UFC 300 would've been the perfect event for this long-awaited showdown.
Conor McGregor vs Nate Diaz
At this point, McGregor vs. my local mailman would do the trick. Who knows how a battle with a washed-up Nate Diaz would go, but that trilogy was left unfinished with one win on either side.
The Diaz-McGregor brawls were the highest-performing pay-per-views in UFC history after the Conor vs Khabib card at UFC 229. I'd love to watch Diaz and McGregor talk trash and smack each other around.
