What a milestone for the UFC and Dana White. Truly, this is the best and biggest MMA organization that ever existed, and in our opinion, there won’t be a worthy challenger on the market for a long time.
That’s why UFC 300 is stacked with quality and excitement. Just look at the names involved in the preliminaries, Deiveison Figueiredo, Holly Holm, Calvin Kattar, Jiri Prochazka, Aljmain Sterling, etc.
Two fights on Saturday night will be for the title: the women’s strawweight Weili vs. Xiaonan and the men’s light heavyweight Pereira vs. Hill. Let’s examine these two events in more detail.
Weili vs. Xiaonan – Chinese Taking Over
Weili is a veteran whose career is impressive, as she fought all the top names in the division and beat each one but Rose Namajunas. Though, that second clash ended with her split decision loss, and many believe that she should ended up on the winning side.
The Chinese is a fantastic warrior, having 24 wins and three defeats and riding a three-match winning streak vs. Jedrzejczyk, Esparza, and Lemos. She got back the belt against Esparza and defended it at the UFC 292 vs. Lemos.
Weili is a strong puncher, though, she knows how to wrestle very well and is very nasty on the mat, so it’s no wonder eight of her triumphs came via decision.
Xiaonan is not as famous as her compatriots, but she too has enough experience – 17 wins, three defeats, and one no-contest. The last four meetings were against top-tier rivals Esparza and Marina Rodriguez, which were losses, and the wins that followed against Mackenzie Dern and Jessica Andrade.
She likes to be on her feet in the octagon, and eight of the wins were via KO, the remaining nine took place after a decision. We need to mention Xiaonan’s cardio, which is excellent.
Overall, our pick would be the champ, because of her wrestling. Weili may not be the best wrestler in the division, but she is at least one league above her rival.
Poatan Wants to Avenge His Mentor
Jamahal Hill defeated Glover Teixeira and took his belt in January 2023 at UFC 283. At that time, Pereira was still a middleweight, but now he is a champion in the light heavyweight division. Hill didn’t enter the ring since he won the title because of an Achilles injury.
The American has 12 wins and one loss, plus a no-contest vs. Klidosn Abreu. He is a very nasty boxer, with a high volume of punches and constant pressure on the rival. Hill always goes forward and tries to crack the opponent’s guard.
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What can we say about Pereira that you don’t already know? He is a phenomenon, one of the best kickboxers of the last decade or so. Along the way, Poatan managed to win the middleweight division and then take the light heavyweight against the former champ, Jiri Prochazka. Previously, he ended up on the winning side against Jan Blachowicz – a split decision.
Pereira has excellent leg kicks, and his tactical approach is always making a difference in the ring. Glover is his corner, which is an additional plus for the champion.
Poatan might be slightly easier than Hill following the weight in, but that won’t be a problem for the Brazilian, who has more experience and was constantly in the octagon, unlike his rival, who will have some ring rust.
