Predictions for UFC 300

As we draw closer to UFC 300, we’re learning more and more about how the card’s development and who will and will not, be fighting at this event. Many people were hoping for the main event to be the return of Conor McGregor, and up until a few days ago, most MMA fans were set on that being what was happening.

Given the recent news of McGregor announcing his return will be at middleweight, against Michael Chandler and it will be for International fight week, we’re back to the drawing board for what our UFC 300 main event will be, and even more so, what the rest of the card will hold for this third centennial UFC PPV event.

Main Event: Islam Makhachev vs Justin Gaethje

There aren’t many options that’ll appease the fans who thought Conor McGregor was going to be main eventing this event. However, if there’s any match up that’ll get the fans on board, it’s this one.

Of course, a lot of fans want to see Charles Oliveira run it back with Islam. The two first met at UFC 280; we saw the former lightweight king, Khabib Nurmagomedov, coaching Islam to victory. Makhachev dominated this fight.

Though Charles has bounced back and he does deserve the rematch, a main event for UFC 300 should be something fresh, something we’ve yet to see. And, whether it adds value or not, it’s worth noting that Gaethje holds the BMF title. So, pardon the stretch, but this could be deemed a “champ vs champ” bout.

Co-main event: Leon Edwards vs Belal Muhammad

The MMA community is a ruthless one; if a fighter doesn’t have at least a 90% finishing rate, they’re getting flamed on the internet despite dominating top 10 fighters. Belal Muhammad has been a target of the MMA community’s memes since he has begun his reach for the title.

However, it’s worth noting that he’s made tremendous strides in his striking. His winstreak is great, but looking at his performances since his Vicente Luque rematch is what we really need to hone in on. He redeemed his previous loss to Luque and showed that he can strike a lot better now.

After that, he handed Sean Brady his first loss, doing so by way of TKO. He then beat Gilbert Burns, who did take the fight on short notice, but still, it’s a very impressive feat. Leon Edwards has time and time again proved that he’s the real deal. After his 2022 Knockout of the Year over Kamaru Usman in their second bout, Leon’s held onto gold and has refused to let go. He beat Usman in their rubber match and recently gave the MMA community a very satisfying performance as he shut out Colby Covington.

Edwards and Muhammad have met once before, that being in 2021. This bout went into the books as a no contest due to an eye poke. Very anticlimactic, so it’s about time we put a real punctuation mark on this match up.

Cody Garbrandt vs Dominick Cruz II

This fight makes so much sense and from every angle – the rankings, the momentum of either fighter, and a tremendous bout for a special event.

Cody Garbrandt was able to strip the belt from Dom back in 2016. This performance, to date, is one of the best, if not the best performance to dethrone a champion in UFC history.

Cruz has maintained his spot in the ranks, whereas Cody had one of the harshest falls from grace that the UFC has seen. With Cruz in the ranks, but coming off of a loss, and Cody unranked, but putting together his first winning streak since he earned a crack at Cruz initially, this fight makes a lot of sense.