Roundtable: What UFC 300 fight has you most hyped?
UFC 300 is days away, and while there’s plenty of discussion about where the tricentennial event ranks among the promotion’s best-ever lineups, all can agree that its depth is unmatched.
You want current champions in action? How about two of them?
You want dream matchups? Does Justin Gaethje vs. Max Holloway scratch that itch?
You want contenders? Fan favorites? Action fighters? The UFC is serving up Charles Oliveira, Arman Tsarukyan, Jiri Prochazka, Aljamain Sterling, Holly Holm, Kayla Harrison, Jalin Turner, Renato Moicano, Jessica Andrade, Deiveson Figueiredo, Cody Garbrandt, and, yes, Jim Miller. And more!
With a stacked deck to choose from, MMA Fighting’s Damon Martin, Jed Meshew, Steven Marrocco, and Alexander K. Lee give you their picks for the fights that will have their.
Martin: To be fair, there isn’t a wrong answer, because UFC 300 really is ridiculously stacked. But why overcomplicate things? With a combined 22 post-fight bonuses between them, including 13 for “Fight of the Night,” Justin Gaethje and Max Holloway have the most potential for an absolute barnburner on Saturday night.
Nobody really saw this one coming until it was announced. But now it’s the fight with almost 100 percent certainty to deliver.
At this point in his career, Gaethje has probably sacrificed years of his life to put on the kind of memorable wars that made him arguably the most entertaining fighter in UFC history. Even in his past two performances, where Gaethje focused more on technically out-dueling his opponents rather than just marching forward and launching bombs until somebody fell over, he still managed to deliver a three-round battle with Rafael Fiziev and a jaw-dropping knockout of Dustin Poirier.
As for Holloway, he’s taking another stab at the lightweight division after a “Fight of the Night” outing with Poirier in 2019. On that night, Holloway confessed he really just performed as a bloated featherweight rather than a dedicated lightweight. Now, he’s made a lot of changes to ensure that he won’t be out-muscled or overpowered at 155 pounds.
Through 32 career fights, including 28 in the UFC, Holloway has never been finished by strikes. That’s after facing a laundry list of knockout artists in his career, including Poirier, Conor McGregor, Jose Aldo and many more. Meanwhile, Gaethje is like a human car crash just waiting to happen. Even if you beat him, you’re not walking away unscathed.
Put those two things together, and this fight will be like pouring gasoline all over the octagon floor and then dropping a lit match. Flame on!
Meshew: Yes, yes, UFC 300 is amazing, probably the greatest MMA card ever assembled on paper. But y’all want to know the best part about it? The most fun fight of the evening takes place right out of the gate!
Other (lesser) men will argue for the virtues of Alex Pereira vs. Jamahal Hill bonking each other on the head, or Justin Gaethje and Max Holloway tearing chunks from one another, but those men don’t know what the wisest among us know: that Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Cody Garbrandt is MMA nirvana.
Many moons ago, when I was just getting involved with Between the Links, I argued that one of the fights I most wanted to see in all of MMA was “Figgy Smalls” vs. “No Love.” Well, it took a few years, and it’s up a weight class. But we finally got it, and let me tell you, buddy, I couldn’t be more excited.
What do we love about fighting? Barely mitigated violence. We love the knockouts, the more spectacular the better. When Francis Ngannou nearly sent Alistair Overeem into orbit, I ascended spiritually. When Dan Henderson bludgeoned Michael Bisping into the shadow realm and then hit him with a dive bomb for good measure, my soul crystalized and exploded like a Big Bang of glee. And every time Cody Garbrandt gets drawn into a right hook competition, I hear the seraphim sing.
Garbrandt is responsible for one of the single greatest performances in UFC title history with his win over Dominick Cruz. But at the same time, he has also lost the same way over and over again: getting hit and then foolishly deciding it’s time to bite down on the mouthpiece and sling ‘em until someone falls down. Invariably, it’s him that drops.
No fighter in history has ever been less equipped but more likely to go full Rock’em Sock’em than Garbrandt, and he’s about to do it against a man who is extremely well-equipped to fight that sort of battle. Maybe this time he’ll actually win it - it’s always possible. But either way, we’re in for a lovely bit of violence between two future Hall of Famers to kick off the evening, and quite possibly a “KO of the Year” contender.
Marrocco: Being the OG of this wolf pack, I think we need to give a shout out to the fight—or more specifically, the fighter—that ties the centennial events together. Jim Miller is the only fighter to have competed at UFC 100, UFC 200 and UFC 300. That’s insane.
When he was battering Mac Danzig at UFC 100, Holloway was 18 and hadn’t fought professionally. In fact, only five fighters on the entire April 13 card—Holloway, Oliveira, Calvin Kattar, Yan Xionan, and Miller’s opponent, Bobby Green—had fought professionally in the cage. Miller and Green are great examples of the living evolution of this game and they’re fighting each other.
Want entertainment? Miller is tied with Gaethje (as well as Diego Sanchez and Joe Lauzon) for “Fight of the Night” bonuses. Want finishes? He’s just behind Oliveira in the record books with 18. Want experience? At 43 UFC bouts, there is no one more experienced.
Stats don’t always translate into great fights, I know. But also? Green is a pretty tough go for a guy who’s fought literally everyone. It’s no sail off into the sunset for old “A-10.” Green has eight post-fight bonuses to his name, and after a string of decisions, six of his past eight haven’t seen the judges’ scorecards. Green likes to stand and bang, and Miller can sling ‘em or submit ‘em.
The last centennial event, Miller finished Japanese legend Takanori Gomi. The sunset of his career has been a delight of thumbed noses at Father Time, and given his submission abilities, I think we’re likely to see another fairy tale ending for the most veteran of veterans. There’s plenty of luster from mid-card on at UFC 300. I’m here for the prelims too.
Lee: Outside of one matchup (Nickal vs. Brundage, I’m looking at you), UFC 300 is all about matching the best with the best and there may be no better high-level matchup than Charles Oliveira vs. Arman Tsarukyan. To put it another way: Former champion vs. future champion.
As a self-professed “Do Bronx Disciple,” I’m admittedly biased, but I don’t think you need to be a fan of the Brazilian star to get excited for this one. Oliveira has long been one of the most exciting fighters in arguably MMA’s most exciting division and pairing him up with Tsarukyan is a formula for chaos. They both have unfinished business with Islam Makhachev and outside of their past losses to the champ, they’ve thrashed just about anyone who’s dared to stand across from them.
This matchup is also compelling from a narrative standpoint, with Oliveira out to prove that he’s still the true No. 1 contender at 155 pounds and Tsarukyan searching for that signature win that leaves no doubt he deserves a shot to avenge his loss to Makhachev. Tsarukyan wows fans every time he steps into the cage and a win over Oliveira would have them clamoring for the UFC to give him his due.
The only shame here is that someone has to lose, because Saturday could mark the beginning of the end for either man’s title hopes. Oliveira has a lot of mileage on him and he may have to reluctantly pass the torch to Tsrarukyan; on the other hand, a disappointing performance by Tsarukyan could put a ceiling on his potential in the eyes of the matchmakers.
Oliveira vs. Tsarukyan is the last fight on the main card before a trio of title bouts, but don’t be surprised if the winner of this matchup is the most talked-about fighter from the card.
What UFC 300 fight are you most excited for? Let us know in the comments.