I don't want to get too philosophical here, but I love sports, MMA and history and everything. UFC 300 in Las Vegas tomorrow is about to be amazing really no matter what happens. Even if each fight is somehow boring (which is highly unlikely) these fights will still be fantastic to look back on to see how they played out.
UFC 300. Dang, 300 will one day seem ancient LOL.
Maybe one day when UFC 1500 goes down, this little old post could be looked back on as historical????
I've loved MMA for quite awhile. My love for it only grows. This is truly mind blowlingly cliché, but I do believe society as a whole, at least in America, has gotten a bit soft like CHARMIN BOY!
I really don't pretend to be a tough guy and too much 'tough guy' mentality can undoubtedly turn sour if left to run too rampant. But the same can very much be said for overly promoting living in a bubble and safety 24/7.
When it comes to MMA, it is the only area perhaps in the entire world where, fighters and even fans by extension, can sort of just be viciously primal and turn off their, small talky mundane sort of existence.
Label me or call me what you want. For a very long time, humanity was living in caves, as animals fighting for survival. To suggest there is nothing beautiful of therapeutic in the art of combat, or high intensity physical competition, would be incredibly dishonest. To entirely eliminate this aspect of life, seems wrong and sort of just awkward.
With my beloved American football slowly unfortunately turning into flag football with all of their truly, undeniably silly rule changes, MMA is a luxurious, immaculate breath of fresh air.
Rant over, time for these fights.
The UFC really put together a stacked card for UFC 300, and I'm so glad they did. UFC 300 is a big milestone.
The fighters on this card all stars and legends already in their own right, and being on this card only heightens each and everyone of these fighters' legacies. Champions and known savages are littered throughout this card.
The very first fight is of two former champions! Nuts! Cody Garbrandt and Deiveson Figueiredo duke it out in what looks like a potential classic in the making.
Every one of these fights has potential to be a classic.
The very next fight is of two beloved fighters in lightweights Bobby Green and Jim Miller. Just their names feel like classic fighters in my opinion. But yeah, these guys have both been fighting forever and have fought everyone. They've always been top fifteen-top twenty five fighters for probably about a decade. For Jim, he's probably pushing two decades. Glancing at Miller's fight history, he actually fought on UFC 100 and 200!! He got the win both times. Incredible. Bobby has been a pro since 2008 and has fought as far back as UFC 156 himself. This is a legendary bout man. My gut says Bobby wins but it's pretty much a coin flip here.
Later in the card, former bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling is fighting up a weight class to a fight scrappy and skilled young vet in Calvin Kattar. This one is super intriguing. This is a nice northeast rivalry here too, Aljamain is from New York and Calvin is from Massachusetts.
Majorly hyped middleweight Bo Nickal fights Cody Brundage. Bo is a great athlete but his main ability is his wrestling. The tricky thing here for Bo is, Cody is a quite high level wrestler himself. This is a massive opportunity for Cody and Bo. I like Bo but love an underdog too!
The always entertaining former lightweight Champion Charles Oliveira fights Arman Tsarukyan in a fight with a lot on the line.
ABSOLUTE LEGENDS Justin Gaethje and Max Holloway fight and man, this might be an insane display of jaw dropping violence. Max is probably the second best featherweight champion ever and a shoo-in Hall of Famer, Justin was never a champ but he still could be one day and he's highly highly likely a Hall of Famer himself. Max makes his second appearance at lightweight after taking a loss to Dusin Poirier in the weight class five years ago.
I worry about Max's sheer amount of wars he's been in. Justin has pretty crazy power and has actually changed the narrative a bit in terms of being a punching bag. He still gets hit, but considering how much he used to get hit earlier in his career, it's almost night and day.
I hope Max put on some muscle in this bout. Looking at Max in the weigh in, he looks significantly more muscular in comparison to five years ago when he fought Dustin. Matter of fact Max looked fairly similar in size to Justin! This gives me more faith in Max's chances honestly. Still an absolute toss up though.
There's no official traditional title on the line for Max or Justin but Justin does hold the 'BMF' Title!
I'm pretty sure Max and Justin are kind of borderline friends and so it is kind of awkward that they're fighting but that's the business and the matchup is bananas.
Two title fights finish up the night. Two Chinese ladies in Zhang Weili and Yan Xiaonan duke it out for the women's strawweight title. Should be a fun one for sure. Zhang is well rounded as it gets and very strong.
Finally, in what is probably a super underrated main event title fight, Light Heavyweight Champion Alex Pereira defends his title against former Champion Jamahal Hill.
I think everyone is seriously overlooking Hill. He did not become Champion for no reason. Hill is solid everywhere, especially on the feet. I love Hill's overall movement and awareness in the cage. To top it off Hill is just a dawg. Pereira is a tough calculated dude too, but Hill got serious pop and he does not quit.
Pereira is the favorite probably slightly. Pereira is just a technical robot and has become a staple in MMA essentially overnight.
This is gonna be nuts.
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No disrespect to the fights I skipped. Every one of these fights are good for a post by themselves!
Leave thoughts and predictions below!
