While the lineup for UFC
300 is nearly complete, the promotion’s return to Rio de
Janeiro is currently in limbo with the availability of several top
Brazilian stars in question.
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UFC
301 is scheduled to take place on May 4 at Jeunesse Arena in
Rio de Janeiro and is currently without a headliner. However,
Alex
Pereira, who is slated to face Jamahal
Hill in the UFC 300 main event, would be willing to make the
21-day turnaround to compete in his home country.
“We were talking with the UFC to make this fight in Brazil,”
Pereira said through an interpreter on YouTube. “Then they came up
with the idea to bring it a little earlier and make it on UFC 300,
which for me is a good thing because I’ve already been training
hard. The fight being before what was expected makes it even better
for me. I’m in good shape, I’ve been training hard, and I’m excited
for the fight.”
It’s not unprecedented for Pereira, who has made quick turnarounds
during his kickboxing career.
“I always [said] that I want to defend the belt hopefully in a very
fast pace in a row, two times,” Pereira said. “Now this would be
the opportunity, with the cards being so close to each other, for
me to be able to defend at UFC 300 and maybe in Rio. That is a very
big possibility because if I don’t get hurt, I did this before in
kickboxing.”
Meanwhile, Paulo
Costa, who dropped a unanimous decision to Robert
Whittaker in the UFC 298 co-headliner this past Saturday,
seemed hopeful to return to action in the near future. That makes
his participation on the UFC 301 bill a possibility. However,
“Borrachinha” did not address the card directly.
“After 18 months I’m definitely back,” Costa wrote on Instagram.
“See [you] very soon.”
Finally, Sherdog contacted Charles
Oliveira’s coach, Diego Lima, regarding his fighter’s interest
in competing at UFC 301. Oliveira is currently slated to meet
Arman
Tsarukyan in a five-round, lightweight title eliminator at UFC
300.
“Actually we haven’t even discussed that with the UFC after
‘Poatan’ was announced for UFC 300,” Lima said. “The UFC always
made it clear to us that Charles was very important to UFC 300, so
we haven’t even considered that.”
As of now, the biggest Brazilian star expected to compete at UFC
301 is reigning flyweight king Alexandre
Pantoja, who recently indicated that his
next title defense would come in Rio de Janeiro. Pantoja’s
opponent, however, is currently unclear.