UFC 300 went down last night at T-Mobile arena in the fight capitol of the world. The card was stacked from top to bottom and delivered on all the hype with entertaining fights and some incredible moments. Highlights included Max Holloway’s knockout of the century, a dominant performance by the great Zhang Weili , Alex Pereira’s further ascent into legendary status. As well as Jiri Prochaska’s epic performance in the featured prelim bout. Read on for a recap of the main card, plus bonus coverage of two prelim bouts.
Alex Pereira starches Jamal Hill in first round
Alex Pereira made quick work of Jamal “Sweet Dreams” Hill with a massive left hand that sent the Michigan native into dreamland. Hill was unable to land anything effective, while Pereira bided his time looking for the death touch.
The end came just after Hill had poked “Poatan” in the eye, causing referee Herb Dean to step into the fray. But Pereira wasn’t having it and shoved Dean off to prevent any timeout for the foul.
The knockout was an embarrassing one for Hill as his eyes immediately rolled back in his head as he awkwardly fell backward with his legs twisting underneath.
Pereira, the former 185 champion, now has his first title defense at 205 and is eyeing an eventual move up to heavyweight in a quest to become a three division champion. Considering his current resume already looks close to HOF worthy a third title at heavyweight would cement him as an MMA icon.
Zhang Weili uses grappling to outpoint Yan Xiaonan
Zhang Weili got all she could handle from Yan Xioanan in an entertaining fight. From the get go it was clear that Xioanan came to fight and was getting the better of the striking exchanges. But Weili’s high fight IQ ended up ruling the day as she wisely made this a grappling heavy bout and largely dominated the grappling exchanges.
Both Chinese fighters are highly likeable as the UFC has two marketable stars from the world’s second most populous country. If Xiaonan can improve her grappling, which seems a likely bet considering she trains at Team Alpha Male, she looks like a future UFC champion.
Max Holloway smashes Gaethje for five rounds and destroys him in the final second
The BMF championship is not a real championship but Max Holloway proved that he’s the realest BMF to hold the title after Street Jesus and the “Highlight” were more imposter BMFs than anything
This was Holloway’s second go at 155 after his first try came up shot against Dustin Poirier. “Blessed” said he was fat and not in shape during that first try and he looked much bigger and sharper in this bout.
Holloway repeatedly stymied Gaethje’s simple striking game. Seattle Fights prides itself on going against the mainstream MMA narrative regarding certain fighters and Gaethje is an excellent example. Gaethje is sometimes referred to as “your favorite fighter’s favorite fighter” but has huge holes in his game and largely relies on toughness, low leg kicks, and good power.
But Max Holloway exposed his limitations in all five rounds. Gaethje’s pattern of attacks include lunging in and swinging a huge right hand. But Holloway’s boxing is far superior and Gaethje wasn’t able to ever hurt Holloway.
A turning point in the bout occurred when Holloway blasted Gaethje with a spinning back kick at the end of round one to the face that left the Highlight with a badly busted nose. Credit Gaethje’s toughness for continuing to fight and look for the knockout.
The ending was brilliant. Holloway, who had easily won all five rounds, once more beckoned an opponent in the last ten seconds of a bout to stand in the middle of the cage and throw down. Gaethje foolishly obliged, but it’s difficult to fault him considering it was his last and only chance to win the fight.
With both men swinging heavy Holloway uncorked a hellacious overhand right that caught Gaethje clean and sent him face first to the canvas. The Highlight crimpled, falling face first and was left convulsing on the canvas. The knockout came with one second left in the bout.
Holloway, who has serious beef with Ilia Topuria, called for a shot at Topuria’s 145 belt in the post-fight in-cage interview. Topuria has thrown cold water on a proposed fight with Holloway, but with a performance like this from “Blessed” the UFC likely will mandate a title shot for the fan favorite Hawaiian.
Charles Oliveria was robbed
Arman Tsarukyan is not a likeable fighter but he has good wrestling, solid striking and despite a questionable fight IQ at times, is tough. Charles Oliveria should have won this bout on the strength of two very close submission attempts: a guillotine in round one and a tight D’arce in the final moments of the fight. Assuming judges should value near submissions as near finishes (as they are) Oliveria should have won two rounds to one.
Unfortunately, Tsarukyan won on two judges’ scorecards based on control time, but the Armenian did little damage from top and was out-struck on the feet. The third judge scored the bout for Oliveria in the split decision.
“Do Bronx”, a fan favorite, will almost certainly bounce back from this to stay in the mix for a title shot at 155.
Bo Nickall Struggles badly against his first halfway decent opponent.
Many questioned Bo Nickall’s placement on the main card of UFC 300 and considering how badly he struggled in this fight the criticism was well warranted. Cody Brundage was the wrestler’s first opponent who didn’t lay down for him and Brundage repeatedly frustrated Nickall in the first round. Brundage even mocked Nickall late in the opening frame as Nickall stalled from top position and threw some ridiculously light tapping punches, drawing scorn from Brundage.
It should be noted that Nickall did win the fight, but his future was certainly put into some doubt with this performance.
If Nikall is the next legendary UFC champ as Bisping and DC suggested this week he has an exceedingly long road ahead of him. Nickall is so limited in his submissions and striking game that it bewilders that he is already being talked about as a future legend. And Seattle Fights is well aware of the MMA newcomer’s wrestling credentials. This performance screamed don’t believe the hype.
Jiri Prochaska displays samurai spirit in weathering storm and then destroying Alexander Rakic
Jiri Prochaska fought with obvious disdain of Alexander Rakic even as the Serb dominated much of the first two rounds with his athleticism and power striking. Rakic hurt Prochaska on several occasions and it looked like things weren’t going to end well for “Denisa”.
Rakic had mocked Prochaska’s love of samurai culture and dedication to its principles in the runup to this bout. Bad move. After weather the storm, it became obvious that Rakic had tired after all of his explosive movements.
Prochaska began to move forward and unrelentingly attacked the Serb. After knocking down Rakic, Prochaska unleashed vicious ground and pound that had Rakic covering up and looking for a way out.
In the post-fight in-cage interview Prochaska put on a master class on the mic as he beautifully explained his devotion to the samurai way.
Kayla Harrison dominates Holly Holm
Kayla Harrison, the former PFL champ at 155 pounds and two-time Olympic judo champion dominated Holly Holm on the way to a RNC finish in round two. Harrison, who is massive and cuts a ton of weight, had an obvious size and strength advantage.
It’s fair to wonder how much Holm has left after Boss Dana encouraged her to retire after the bout. But Harrison seems a strong favorite to smash through Raquel Pennington or Juliana Pena when Harrison gets her title shot.