Producing a high-quality fight card can be a challenging process,
especially when it’s an event like UFC
300.
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After plenty of buzz and speculation,
UFC CEO Dana White announced Saturday night that Alex
Pereira will defend the light heavyweight title against
Jamahal
Hill in the UFC 300 headliner. While it wasn’t necessarily the
type of jaw-dropping main event some were expecting, it helps round
out one of the promotion’s deepest overall cards in recent
memory.
According to White, there are a lot of factors that went into
finding the suitable headliner for the highly-anticipated card.
“This was not about money,” White said at the UFC 298 post-fight
press conference on Saturday night. “It was all about timing. We’ve
got three killer cards in a row and in this business you have
injuries and all kinds of other bulls—t that goes on behind the
scenes. We’ve been talking about [UFC] 300 forever. We were just
trying to make the best fights that we could possibly make. We had
two more fights to make and we’re trying to put on two bad-ass
fights.
“These two guys [Pereira and Hill] are it. I’m sure you saw the
video, I walked through who they both are, what they’ve both done.
Both guys are hungry. They both want it. No way that fight
sucks.”
Though all the possibilities that were discussed for UFC 300 may
never be revealed, one fighter who was apparently willing to step
up against multiple opponents was reigning welterweight champion
Leon
Edwards.
“We were out there talking to lots of people, trying ot make lots
of fights,” White said. “In this business it’s about taking
opportunities — headining UFC 300 with all the buzz and all the
energy around it.
“Let me say this: Leon Edwards has had like three opponents
throughout this thing. Leon Edwards doesn’t say no to anybody. This
kid is an absolute stud. He’s had three opponents thrown at him
during UFC 300. [He said], ‘Yes, yes and yes.’ He was willing to
take on anybody. Kid’s an absolute stud. Leon, thank you and
respect.”
White also confirmed on Saturday that the promotion still has one
more fight to announce for the event. UFC 300 takes place on April
13 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and will feature a six-fight
main card topped by the clash between Pereira and Hill.