After months of waiting and guessing, the UFC finally confirmed the main event for UFC 300 this past weekend. Dana White took to social media while UFC 298 was going on to confirm that Alex Pereira vs Jamahal Hill would headline the card. This is the first time Pereira will put his light heavyweight belt on the line. The Brazilian won it in November 2023 after knocking out Jiří Procházka. However, ‘Poatan’ has his eyes set on a bigger goal once he gets past Hill. The Brazilian champion recently appeared in a video on X where he shared his thoughts on the main event announcement.
UFC 300 takes place on April 13th. However, just a few weeks later, UFC 301 will be held in Rio De Janeiro. Pereira shared his thoughts on potentially being involved in that card as well. He said,
“[Alex] always spoke that he wants to defend the belt in a very fast pace. Now this would be the opportunity, with the cards being so close to each other, for him to be able to defend at UFC 300 and maybe in Rio. [Alex] said that that is a very big possibility because if he doesn’t get hurt, he did this before in kickboxing.”
Alex Pereira says he wants to defend his belt both at #UFC300 and #UFC301 in Rio.
“[Alex] always spoke that he wants to defend the belt in a very fast pace. Now this would be the opportunity, with the cards being so close to each other, for him to be able to defend at UFC 300… pic.twitter.com/W5wtTJWuZm
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) February 18, 2024
Ever since joining the UFC, Pereira has been extremely active. In less than three years with the company, the 36-year-old has fought seven times and won belts in two different weight classes. The quickest turnaround time so far in the UFC for Pereira was just a little over two months.
Pereira lost to Israel Adesanya at UFC 287 on April 8, 2023. He returned to action on July 29th 2023 to take on Jan Błachowicz at UFC 291.
A closer look at Alex Pereira vs Jamahal Hill
Alex Pereira joined an elite list of fighters in November last year. ‘Poatan’ knocked out Procházka in the second round of their fight to become a two-weight world champion. Unfortunately, Pereira’s goal of turning around to headline the card in Brazil might be a bit far-fetched.
Thus far in his UFC career, Pereira has never fought in Brazil and he would very much like to change that.
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The UFC would love to have Pereira headline the event. However, it would depend on him getting a quick knockout win over Hill.
While that is a possibility, it is not guaranteed. Therefore, it is unlikely that the UFC would wait until the last minute to announce a main event for UFC 301 and bank on Pereira getting a quick knockout win.
