UFC 300: Future matchups

By Ryan Mullen

The eve of UFC 300 was a historical one for combat sports as a whole. Thirteen fights, each full of hype and heartbreak for the fight fans all across the world. Whether it’s Max Holloway out-highlighting The Highlight himself, Justin Gaethje. Or Alex Pereira waving off Herb Dean when he tried to break up the fight after a low blow and putting Jamahal Hill’s lights out only seconds later. Or the undeniable heart displayed by number one contender Xiaonan Yan against the seemingly unstoppable Zhang Weili in the Women’s Strawweight title bout. After UFC 300, 13 fighters are awaiting their next matchups, and possibly a dig up in the rankings from taking them.

Starting at the bottom of the card, former flyweight champ Deiveson Figueiredo won a convincing submission over fan-favourite and former bantamweight champ Cody Garbrandt. The fans seem to favour a matchup with another former champion Petr Yan, but Figueiredo himself has his eyes set higher, looking for a bout with Merab Dvalishvili or even the current champ, Sean O’Malley. However, all Figueiredo did was beat an unranked former champion, so it’s unlikely this will happen. The ideal situation is that Figueiredo gets a fight with Petr Yan, possibly a title eliminator to see who’ll fight the victor of O’Malley and Dvalishvili.

Figueiredo v Yan could be on the cards (Image: Getty Images)

Next up, Bobby Green. The 37-year-old is another fan-favourite on the card. There’s an obvious answer to this question, the name of said answer being unranked lightweight Paddy “The Baddy” Pimblett. After putting a striking clinic on the veteran Jim Miller, Green, in a riled-up post-fight speech called out the Liverpudlian, saying: “Paddy, how dare you, you slimy, sugary little snake, how dare you say my name? I’m coming after you. July, I’m coming to your backyard.” It appears as though Green may not be as invested in the matchup as originally thought, seeing as in a later interview with TNT Sports, Green said: “There’s no beef, I don’t have no problem with him. His style is different, but Paddy said my name, I didn’t mention him. So, once he mentioned my name, I’m just answering your call.”

Could Green face off against “The Baddy” again? (Image: Getty Images)

Next up on the card is former Strawweight champ Jessica Andrade. The Women’s strawweight division right now is one of the most exciting in the sport. With the seemingly unbeatable Zhang Weili on top, with Tatiana Suarez and good contenders like Lupita Godinez and Amanda Lemos. But the most likely matchup for Andrade at this time is fifth-ranked strawweight Virna Jandiroba. Coming off a convincing victory over the aforementioned Godinez, Jandiroba is known as a high submission threat, winning 13 out of her 20 professional wins by submission. 8 of her finishes came in the first round.

Andrade has a long list of potential opponents (Image: Getty Images)

Next up, is one of the most exciting talkers in the business Renato “Money” Moicano. He has his pick of contenders to fight after bouncing Jalin Turner’s head off the canvas for a ground-and-pound TKO in the second round after recovering from a scary knockdown in the first. Moicano was a top-five contender when he fought at featherweight, only leaving the division after two straight KO losses to Jose Aldo and Chan Sung Jung- the Korean Zombie. Moicano is currently on a three-fight win streak, making him eligible to fight up in the rankings once again. The most talked-about matchup for the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt is Beneil Dariush, another high-level submission specialist, who until being stopped by Charles Oliveira last year, was riding a seven-fight winning streak. Dariush is currently on a two-fight losing skid to both former and current number-one contenders in Oliveira and Arman Tsarukyan.

“Money” may have many queueing up to fight him (Image: Getty Images)

Opening up the prelims was fan-favourite unranked fighter Diego Lopes. Lopes charged into the octagon, handily beating “Super” Sodiq Yusuff in only a minute and a half with some incredible clinch boxing. Lopes is one of the promotion’s most exciting fighters. Making his debut on short notice in a fight-of-the-year contender against current fifth-ranked Movsar Evloev. In all of his fights, Lopes has shown incredible killer instinct against all manner of opposition. With his sudden arrival in the rankings at featherweight, who better to test this ‘killer instinct’ against than the menacing Josh Emmet. Emmet holds one of the most brutal knockouts in recent history, sending Bryce Mitchell twitching to the canvas in UFC 296. While it’s not entirely necessary for Emmet to be fighting down in the rankings, the kind of momentum Lopes is riding at such a young age does afford him a fight up the rankings, and Emmet may well be the one to take it.

Lopes has burst onto the scene (Image: Getty Images)

Kayla Harrison made her debut one to remember after handily submitting the legendary Holly Holm in the first round with visible ease. Harrison- an Olympic gold-medallist judoka -has kicked the somewhat stagnant Women’s Bantamweight division into motion after the departure of Amanda Nunes in 2023. In her post-fight speech, Harrison boldly calls her shot against the champion. The victor of the inevitable Juliana Pena vs. Raquel Pennington bout that’s likely slated for some time this year has a big challenge on the horizon.

Harrison has a bright future ahead of her in the UFC Image: Getty Images)

Former Bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling almost effortlessly dispatched the 37-year-old Calvin Kattar with masterful pressure-grappling. His debut at featherweight wasn’t a highlight-reel performance, but it was effective, and Kattar could not get his usual offence going. Sterling is calling his shot against either fifth-rank Movsar Evloev or third-rank Brian Ortega in a bout that could very well be a title eliminator.

Sterling has shown he can handle the featherweight division (Image: Getty Images)

Jiri Prochazka rallied in the second round after facing a beating from the fifth-ranked Aleksandr Rakic in the first. Scoring a brutal ground-and-pound TKO on the Austrian. Prochazka has been giving highlight after highlight in every single win. Whether it was his brutal war with the champion Glover Teixeira, or the spinning elbow KO he got on the tricky Dominick Reyes. Prochazka has a lot of pull in the division, and with Magomed Ankalaev- who most think is next in line for the title shot -not wanting to fight until UFC Abu Dhabi nearer the end of the year. Prochazka very well could be afforded a rematch with the defending champion, “Poatan” Alex Pereira.

Prochazka has been impressive - could a Pereira rematch be on the cards? (Image: Getty Images)

Opening the main card with a quick submission is former D1 All-American wrestler Bo Nickal. Nickal has been making a name for himself in MMA with a series of quick finishes, whether by knockout or by submission. The Contender Series alumnus is likely on the way to a shot at the rankings soon, perhaps after his next bout. There’s a number of fights he can take at middleweight right now- a division chock full of strong unranked prospects. But with most notable names booked, the likely story is that Nickal will face off against Jun Yong Park “The Iron Turtle” later this year.

Nickal has a big future ahead of him in MMA (Image: Getty Images)

In a heartbreaking result, Arman Tsarukyan edges out the decision over fan-favourite Charles Oliveira. Fighting through adversity after being put in two extremely tight submissions inside of rounds one and two. Tsarukyan is the number one contender, and after the victor of Makhachev vs. Poirier is decided, it’s all but confirmed that Tsarukyan will face the winner.

Tsarukyan has a massive bout on the horizon (Image: Getty Images)

In an inspirational upset, former featherweight- and new BMF -champion Max “Blessed” Holloway scored a historic knockout over Justin “The Highlight” Gaethje. Holloway, now, has the pull to bargain for title shots or number one contender fights in two divisions. The most likely of which is the current Featherweight champ, “El Matador” Ilia Topuria, who Holloway called out in a fired-up post-fight speech: “There’s an El Matador, and he is running away from the bull at 145! Tell him to sign the contract!“ Topuria has gained scrutiny from the 145-pound division for his comments after his win over consensus featherweight GOAT Alexander “The Great” Volkanovski for not wanting to fight Featherweight contenders. Daniel “DC” Cormier has commented on this as well, stating: “It’s just weird. He’s not telling us what’s next, but he’s saying no to a lot of things that can be right now. And I don’t know that you can do that as the champ.”

There are a few contenders as to who will face off against Holloway next (Image: Getty Images)

“Magnum” Zhang Weili has cemented her reign of terror over the Strawweight division in her victory over Team Alpha Male’s Xiaonan Yan. Beating her on the scorecards in all five rounds. But the women’s Strawweight division is stacked with talent, such as undefeated contender Tatiana Suarez. Suarez has gone on record and said that she will “get a submission, 100%”. On top of this, it’s arguable that Suarez has the best resumé out of every possible title challenger in the division, with a victory over current Flyweight champ Alexa Grasso, and over former strawweight champ, Jessica Andrade.

Weili has stood out in a high-quality division (Image: Getty Images)

Lastly, is the defending Light-heavyweight Champ, Alex “Poatan” Pereira. “Poatan” has gone on an impressive streak. Dismantling three former champs in a row. Jan Blachowicz, Jiri Prochazka and now Jamahal “Sweet Dreams” Hill. It’s been noted that Magomed Ankalaev wants to fight at UFC Abu Dhabi near the end of the year, but Pereira is an extremely active champion and fights every 3-4 months. It’s most likely that Pereira will fight again. Possibly against Tom Aspinall or Jon Jones at Heavyweight in an attempt to become the UFC’s first ever “Triple Champ.”