UFC 300 may be the best lineup the world's biggest MMA promotion has put together in 31 years.
In the main event of Saturday's landmark pay-per-view card at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Alex Pereira will defend the light heavyweight title against former champion Jamahal Hill. Zhang Weili will also put the strawweight belt on the line against Yan Xiaonan, and Justin Gaethje will face Max Holloway for the BMF title.
But that's not all. The card is stacked from top to bottom, with a record 11 current or former UFC undisputed champions in action and each fight carrying divisional significance.
Below, we rank all 13 matchups based on potential for excitement, competitiveness, and importance.
13. Jessica Andrade vs. Marina Rodriguez
Both Andrade and Rodriguez recently got back into the win column and will move one step closer to a shot at the UFC strawweight title with another victory this weekend.
12. Bo Nickal vs. Cody Brundage
Nickal isn't getting much of a step up in competition for his third UFC appearance, but it's still an opportunity for the former standout collegiate wrestler to continue to bolster his MMA record.
11. Bobby Green vs. Jim Miller
Miller was one of two fighters - alongside Brock Lesnar - who competed at both UFC 100 (in 2009) and UFC 200 (in 2016), and now he'll be the only person to fight on all three tentpole cards. That kind of longevity is basically unheard of in MMA. And it'll be even more impressive if Miller manages to beat Green and re-enter the lightweight rankings at age 40.
10. Sodiq Yusuff vs. Diego Lopes
Lopes is the jiu-jitsu coach of UFC women's flyweight champion Alexa Grasso, and he also happens to be one of the most intriguing prospects in the featherweight division. Lopes, who was born in Brazil but fights out of Mexico, was a front-runner for Newcomer of the Year in 2023 and could crack into the top 15 with a win over Yusuff.
9. Holly Holm vs. Kayla Harrison
If Harrison beats Holm in one of the most anticipated UFC debuts in recent memory, the former two-time PFL champion will immediately become one of the faces of women's UFC - and could be what the 135-pound division needs to return to the glory days of Ronda Rousey and Amanda Nunes. But we have to find out how Harrison fares against the elite of the elite first.
8. Jalin Turner vs. Renato Moicano
Moicano's animated postfight interviews, financial demands, and engaging social media presence have made the Brazilian veteran a fan favorite over the past 16 months. He got past Drew Dober earlier in 2024, but No. 10-ranked lightweight Turner will be a tough test.
7. Jiri Prochazka vs. Aleksandar Rakic
Both Prochazka and Rakic have something to prove. In back-to-back fights, Prochazka went from finishing Glover Teixeira to become the new UFC light heavyweight champion to suffering his first Octagon loss against Pereira in devastating fashion. Rakic hasn't fought since May 2022 when he suffered a winning-streak-snapping, momentum-halting injury TKO loss to Jan Blachowicz. The winner will be back in the mix, but the loser will be far away from a shot at the title.
6. Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Cody Garbrandt
Whether it's Figueiredo further entrenching himself in the upper echelon of the bantamweight division or Garbrandt securing his biggest win in years, this clash between former UFC champions seems destined to end in violent fashion.
5. Calvin Kattar vs. Aljamain Sterling
After Sterling dropped the UFC bantamweight title to Sean O'Malley last summer, he decided to go to featherweight rather than pursue an immediate rematch. It's a long-awaited move for "Funk Master," who notoriously had a tough time cutting down to 135 pounds, and now he'll try to make a title run in a second division. That starts this weekend with Kattar, a reliable gatekeeper who's looking to get back on track himself after 18 months away from the cage. Kattar will be a great litmus test to see if Sterling has what it takes to contend at 145 pounds.
4. Zhang Weili vs. Yan Xiaonan
On a card with a staggering number of big names and larger-than-life characters, the strawweight title fight between Zhang and Yan is flying under the radar quite a bit. But don't be fooled: The UFC's first-ever championship bout between two Chinese fighters - pitting Zhang's elite skill set and well-roundedness against Yan's brute force on the feet - has the potential to be one of the most memorable fights of the night.
3. Alex Pereira vs. Jamahal Hill
Coming in at No. 3 is the main event: Pereira defending the light heavyweight championship against Hill. Pereira won the title by dispatching Prochazka last November, but Hill is a former champ who never lost the belt in the Octagon. "Sweet Dreams" tore his Achilles tendon last summer and decided to relinquish the championship as he recovered from the severe injury, setting up Pereira-Prochazka for the vacant title. Hill will certainly have a chip on his shoulder going into Saturday's headliner, and both he and Pereira will attempt to cement themselves as the best 205-pound fighter on the planet in what could be an action-packed striking battle.
2. Charles Oliveira vs. Arman Tsarukyan
Oliveira-Tsarukyan is the latest in a series of contender-versus-rising star matchups the UFC has put together recently at 155 pounds. Justin Gaethje fended off Rafael Fiziev, and Dustin Poirier held off Benoit Saint Denis. Can Oliveira, a former lightweight champion, do the same? Tsarukyan, a 27-year-old Armenian-Russian fighter who's climbed the rankings rapidly over the last year, is already considered one of the five or six best lightweights in the UFC. This matchup is very competitive on paper and could end in an explosive finish - whether it's Oliveira standing his ground or Tsarukyan taking perhaps the final steps to a title shot.
1. Justin Gaethje vs. Max Holloway
The BMF championship unofficially signifies who the most exciting, violent, and - as per the name - baddest fighter in the UFC is. Gaethje captured the mythical title last year with a knockout of Poirier, and now he'll become the first to defend it against Holloway, a former featherweight champion. Gaethje has been involved in some of the most thrilling fights in UFC history, and Holloway, who's moving up in weight for a high-profile lightweight bout for the second time, is never one to back down from a scrap. Gaethje-Holloway has Fight of the Year written all over it, and although it won't serve as the UFC 300 main event, it's the best matchup the tentpole event offers.
