3. (c) Alex Pereira vs Jamahal Hill
Many fans are dissatisfied with the main event of UFC 300, and it cannot be claimed that it is the best fight of the event, but the action potential between two striking specialists, knockout artists, and the last two champions of the light heavyweight division cannot be downplayed. Alex Pereira puts on a show every time out, from his legendary kickboxing career to his still-young UFC run. His quadrilogy with Israel Adesanya across two sports will go down in the annals of combat sports history, and there is still hope they finish the arguably-ties series with a fifth fight sometime soon.
As for Hill, he is still being discounted by many, and he has not necessarily proven himself by beating the top few light heavyweights in the world since his best win was over a retiring Glover Teixeira one-fight removed from a bloody, brain-damaging war with Jiri Prochazka, but that performance still showcased his skill and potential for violence, dominating the former champion for five rounds. The power of Poatan is legendary, but ‘Sweet Dreams’ possesses a chin which let him survive hellacious, full-power windmill punches from Thiago Santos. Getting hit with such telegraphed shots may bode poorly for Hill, but his chin, pressure, body-hitting, and cardio could all pose significant challenges for Pereira which the Brazilian has not seen before.
Either way, it is impossible to see this fight being boring. Either man could be knocked out by the other’s power punching early, or later on, or they could simply take lumps out of each for five rounds just like Gaethje and Holloway likely will. Jamahal seems dismissive of the possibility of wrestling Pereira, who is still an inexperienced grappler, but Alex also showed much-improved takedown and submission defense against Jan Blachowicz last year. The main event of UFC 300 is a worthy fight and one of the more exciting title fights on paper in the sport at the moment.
Fight Rating: 9/10
