The UFC’s blockbuster event of the year, UFC 300 goes down this Saturday, April 13th, live from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Headlining the event will be a light heavyweight title bout between Alex Pereira and the former champion, Jamahal Hill. The co-main event sees an all Chinese strawweight title fight between the dominant champion, Zhang Weili and the in-form, Yan Xiaonan. The BMF title belt is also on the line as fan favourites Justin Gaethje and Max Holloway meet in what promises to be a banger of a contest.
We provide you with three predictions for the epic UFC 300 card.
Three Predictions for UFC 300
Holly Holm Spoils the Debut of Kayla Harrison
One of the biggest storylines going into UFC 300 is the long-overdue debut of the two-time Olympic gold medalist and multiple-time PFL tournament champion winner, Kayla Harrison. At 33 years old, she still has a number of years in the business, however, we have to question how much the cut to 135lbs is going to take away from her game.
She’s always been a heavily muscled competitor. In judo, she won gold medals at 78kg, which is 171lbs. In MMA, she’s competed at 155lbs (lightweight) 15 times. Last time out, she competed in a 150lbs catchweight bout and has only once made the featherweight (145lbs) limit and that was back in 2020. There’s little doubt that the cut to bantamweight is going to effect her and this is what will lead to her downfall at UFC 300. We discussed her signing and debut on our YouTube channel which can be found here:
Holly Holm is experienced enough to negate Harrison’s grappling game and do enough to be able to point score across 15 minutes. Holm is a strong fighter herself and has regularly competed at featherweight so should be able to hang with Harrison up close. If she can play the matador, like she did against Rousey all those years ago, she can do enough to spoil the debut of Harrison in Vegas.
Arman Tsarukyan Shocks the World
A fight that is certainly going under the radar is the lightweight title eliminator between the former champion, Charles Oliveira and Arman Tsarukyan. UFC boss, Dana White has informed us that the winner of the bout will clash with the lightweight champion, Islam Makhachev at some point later in the year (presumably in October in Abu Dhabi).
This is a massive fight between two of the world’s best lightweights and the winner of the bout will certainly pose a difficult test for Makhachev. Oliveira is coming off a big first-round knockout over Beneil Daruish last time out and was scheduled to face Makhachev in a rematch, however, a cut kept him out of that one. Tsarukyan is enjoying a three-fight winning run, including his own big knockout win over Daruish last time out. It took him just 1:04 to knock out Daruish and put his name in the title picture.
UFC 300 will mark a changing of the guard as Tsarukyan will shock the world with a dominant finish victory over Charles Oliveira. Do Bronx loves to walk forwards and is willing to take a number of shots to land his own blows. He can’t afford to do this against Tsarukyan, however, he doesn’t know how to fight any other way.
The shape that Tsarukyan is coming into UFC 300 will be the difference maker. He will set a crazy pace, put it on Oliveira, show him no respect and come away the victor.
Arman Tsarukyan is in incredible shape going into his #UFC300 fight with Charles Oliveira next weekend 💪 pic.twitter.com/v8JxNfBpm1
— MMA Orbit (@mma_orbit) April 3, 2024
Cody Garbrandt Surprises Everyone
In the opening bout of the entire card, the former bantamweight champion, Cody Garbrandt will clash with the former flyweight champion, Deiveson Figueiredo. The two men were scheduled to compete for the flyweight strap back in 2020, however, No Love had to withdraw from that one.
Many people are predicting that the Brazilian will not only win the bout but will draw the old brawler out of Garbrandt, make him fight emotionally and force him to fight unintelligently, leading to the knockout victory. Granted, we’ve seen the American do this on multiple occasions, however, in recent fights, Garbrandt has fought far more intelligently.
Against Trevin Jones his output was far lower than in his usual fights, only throwing 40 total strikes across 15 full minutes. For context, he threw more against Brian Kelleher in his next bout and it lasted just 3:26. In that fight, he was able to avoid the power of Kelleher with slick footwork, picked his shots well and relied on the heavy hands that saw him capture the title in 2016.
If he fights intelligently, his speed could cause Figueiredo huge problems. Down at flyweight, we saw Brandon Moreno punish Figgy with slick jabs, quick combinations and good footwork, all elements that Garbrandt has. Let’s see if he can do it at UFC 300 and surprise fans in Vegas!
