Just two months away now, the historic UFC 300 card remains in need of a main event, and the promotion appears to be scrambling.
Multiple recent reports paint a picture of the promotion struggling to come up with a fight fitting of an event of this magnitude. On Saturday, reports surfaced that Jon Jones had been offered the UFC 300 main event slot just days ago — but was forced to decline as he would not have been ready in time.
Jones is currently rehabbing from a torn pectoral muscle that forced him out of his UFC 295 fight with Stipe Miocic.
Jon Jones reveals that he was offered by the UFC to headline UFC 300 two days ago, but had to decline as he wouldn't have been ready in time.
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— Submission Radio (@SubmissionRadio) February 10, 2024
The news of Jones turning down the UFC 300 main event comes shortly after UFC CEO Dana White admitted the promotion was still working on putting a suitable fight together. “We’re working on that right now. Obviously people are drying to find out. It’s been an interesting time tryin to make the main event for this thing. We’re still working on it.”
“it’s been an interesting time trying to make the main event…we’re still working on it”
Dana on the #UFC300 main event
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— Spinnin Backfist (@SpinninBackfist) February 10, 2024
The reality is that nothing short of spectacular will satiate fans when it comes to the UFC 300 card, which comes with extraordinarily high expectations. Thus far, the event features the following reported/announced match-ups:
- Zhang Weili (c) vs. Yan Xiaonan — for the UFC women’s strawweight championship
- Justin Gaethje (c) vs. Max Holloway — for the UFC “BMF” title
- Charles Oliveira vs. Arman Tsarukyan — lightweight title eliminator
- Jiří Procházka vs. Aleksandar Rakić
- Calvin Kattar vs. Aljamain Sterling
- Bo Nickal vs. Cody Brundage
- Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Cody Garbrandt
- Holly Holm vs. Kayla Harrison
- Sodiq Yusuff vs. Diego Lopes
- Jéssica Andrade vs. Marina Rodriguez
- Bobby Green vs. Jim Miller
In terms of options, White recently suggested Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler could happen as late as the fall, taking it out of the running. Israel Adesanya, who had been expected to take time off from fighting, could also be an option, against either Dricus Du Plessis or Alex Pereira— if an agreement could be reached and if the other party were interested.
