This past weekend, the Ultimate Fighting Championship fight card had the potential to be the best collection of matches ever may have lived up to the expectation.
With several former world champions in the prelims and three title fights to close the event, there was high-level action from start to finish.
Out of all three title fights, only one belt changed hands, the BMF title. Former featherweight champion Max Holloway moved up a weight class to take on BMF champion, Justin Gaethje. Coming in as a betting underdog, many fans felt moving up a division and squaring off against a fighter with powerful hands like Gaethje would be a costly decision.
Holloway proved them wrong by standing toe to toe with Gaethje for 24 minutes and 50 seconds. That was before Holloway challenged him to stand in the center of the cage and trade shots for the last ten seconds. Holloway found his target with an overhand right to knock out Gaethje in the final second, earning him the championship. He also walked away with $600,000 in fight bonuses; one of which was for the fight of the night, the other being a performance of the night bonus.
Despite the BMF title changing hands, Alex Pereira (also known as “Poatan” which translates to hands of stone) defended his light heavyweight title. Pereira sure lived up to this nickname as he knocked out former light heavyweight champion Jamahal Hill in the first round. Hehas now beaten five former world champions, improving his record to 10-2.
China’s star, Zhang Weli, shined in the first-ever UFC title fight with two Chinese fighters. Weli cruised to her second straight title defense by unanimous decision vs Yan Xiaonan. Weli more than doubled the number of significant strikes landed by Xiaonan. She also had takedowns which helped Weli gain 12 minutes and 44 seconds of control time.
The title fights of the night caught the fans’ eye but other non-title fight performances did too—specifically the performance of former light heavyweight champion Jiri Prochazka. While appearing to be down on the scorecards vs light heavyweight contender Aleksandar Rakic, Prochazka pushed through and found a way to finish the fight with ground and pound in the second round.
Prochazka’s efforts earned him a $300,000 performance of the night bonus. Hill and Pereira are the only two guys ranked above him in the division. With a performance like he just had, one could believe he’s possibly one fight away from another title opportunity.
Several other fighters had rightful pleas for taking home a fight bonus. Performances from former 125-pound champion Deiveson Figueiredo and rising star Diego Lopes come to mind. Even the debut of former PFL champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist Kayla Harrison can be considered. After submitting former 135-pound champion Holly Holm in the second round fairly easily, she showed glowing potential to be able to wreak havoc in the division.
Every fighter who got to be a part of UFC 300 left it all on the line this past weekend for fans all around the world. UFC 300 was an event for the ages that left a huge impression not only in the world of combat sports but in the sports world in general.