UFC 300 is lacking of important fights

[Levi_]

Does it seem inconceivable that we ever had cards like these?

Total Elimination 2005​

1. Kazuhiro Nakamura beat Kevin Randleman (3rd) via unanimous decision.
   
   
2. Ricardo Arona beat Dean Lister (3rd) via unanimous decision.
   
   
3. Igor Vovchanchyn beat Yuki Kondo (3rd) via unanimous decision.
   
   
4. Alistair Overeem beat Vitor Belfort (1st - 9:36) via submission.
   
   
5. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira beat Dan Henderson (1st - 8:55) via submission.
   
   
6. Kazushi Sakuraba KO Yoon Dong Sik (1st - 0:38).
   
   
7. Mauricio Rua beat Quinton Jackson (1st - 4:47).
   
   
8. Wanderlei Silva beat Hidehiko Yoshida (3rd) via split decision.

Final Conflict 2005​

1. Kazuhiro Nakamura beat Igor Vovchanchyn (2nd) via unanimous decision.
   
   
2. Ricardo Arona beat Wanderlei Silva (2nd) via unanimous decision.
   
   
3. Mauricio Rua TKO Alistair Overeem (1st - 6:42).
   
   
4. Fabricio Werdum beat Roman Zentsov (1st - 6:01) via submission.
   
   
5. Hidehiko Yoshida beat Tank Abbott (1st - 7:40) via submission.
   
   
6. Pride Heavyweight Champ Fedor Emelianenko beat Mirko Cro Cop (3rd) via unanimous decision.
   
   
7. Mauricio Rua KO Ricardo Arona (1st - 2:54) to win the Middleweight Grand Prix 2005.

 

[StonedLemur]

The fighters on the card are giod, but the match making does kind of feel rushed or just odd.

Which one do you feel is most rushed?

 

[Ozze]

Maybe it's because the rankings and title shots are so fucked up that no one knows what the fuck will happen after the fight.

I feel like it's a really bad thing that things are this way now because there's no storyline, no direction, to where each weight class is going, but it is what it is.

Like, you say Max vs. Gaethje is meaningless but would you be surprised if they gave Max a title shot if he beat Justin?

 

[RockyLockridge]

300 is insane

All the complaints are so gay and weird

Omg the fights don’t have meaning

It's like they hate fun

Which one do you feel is most rushed?

Gotta be gaethje vs max.

It seems like this fight was like a plan C.

I believe the original plan A was always to have izzy vs Alex 3 if alex won the title and izzy retained. That would be a super fight, and a trilogy. (first ever?) huge fight.

Plan B Would have been to move a large sum of money toward jon jones after the stipe fight in november but jones getting shelfed hurts the whole operation.

Gaethje vs Max feels like the result of "Well.... What do we do now?"

 

[Dandy Chiggins]

For my 100th birthday I want more hookers and more blow than I ever had in my life.

 

[Lepo Lepo]

Most these fights would be fight night headliners or co-main on fight nights.

 

[fortheo]

Which one do you feel is most rushed?

Well, maybe rushed is the wrong way of put it. It just feels a lot of these match ups don't hit the mark. It's as if they had to go with plan B or Plan C instead of Plan A on a lot of these match ups. I'll break down how I feel about it with examples:

• Bo nickal is on the card, but is it against anyone we wanted to see him against?? ....no, it's practically another gimme fight for him when we all wanted to see him take a step up in comp I think, or at least given an interesting style match up.
• Kattar vs. aljo -- it's a good fight for sure, but was anybody asking for it? No, Wouldn't Kattar vs. Barboza or Yair be better? and wouldn't Aljo vs. ortega be better fights with those guys? all of those guys were unbooked looking for fights around the same time, but UFC somehow combined them in the least interesting way for me.
• Charles vs Arman -- again, a great fight, but people wanted to see one of those guys against Islam in a bigger title fight, so while it's great, it just feels like we got left hanging in regards to the title picture.
• Figgy vs. Gabrandt? again, a good fight, but kind of from left field and odd match making considering Figgy just beat a guy that schooled gabrandt. I expected a better fight for Figgy -- he's too old to be wasting time fighting backwards in my opinion.
• Harrison coming over after nunes retires just to face 43 year old holly feels a bit off the mark to me too. I actually enjoy WMMA, but I don't know. This just feels like 2 years too late. I wish they got her when nunes was around, and before harrison lost in PFL. Now we get her in the twilight of her career, so I don't see her being someone they can build the division around. Hopefully they start signing younger talent in that division, because that's what it needs....
• Gaethje vs. Max does feel like a last resort that the UFC scrambled for once they realized Islam was out of the picture.

So yeah, while I feel like there's tons of good fighters, I just feel like they missed the mark a bit with how they matched them together. It's still a solid card, though, and I'm sure I'll enjoy it.

 

[cws80us]

Is 300 better than the average ppv card? Yes, for sure, but for a special event over 30 years in the making, it just feels underwhelming. With the main event still pending, it doesn't feel very special.

 

[Paulsp]

based off the current revised bout order (edited today) , it looks like there is the main event + another main card ppv fight + one more early prelim fight left to announce

 

[Outsider524]

Ts Says fights. Don't seem important but then list 4 meaningful fights.

Which on a typical ppv I'd say you get maybe 2-3 "meaningful" fights

And then what if the main fight is meaningful that would likely being a record heading breaking 5 meaningful fight card.

I'm not sure your argument holds up in logic court

 

[Fatback96]

It's like they hate fun


Gotta be gaethje vs max.

It seems like this fight was like a plan C.

I believe the original plan A was always to have izzy vs Alex 3 if alex won the title and izzy retained. That would be a super fight, and a trilogy. (first ever?) huge fight.

Plan B Would have been to move a large sum of money toward jon jones after the stipe fight in november but jones getting shelfed hurts the whole operation.

Gaethje vs Max feels like the result of "Well.... What do we do now?"

They always wheel out the BMF belt when they’re out of ideas and no champion wants to defend at that time.

 

[JPW328]

UFC has no name value left, Izzy, McGregor, a few guys but that’s it

 

[StonedLemur]

Well, maybe rushed is the wrong way of put it. It just feels a lot of these match ups don't hit the mark. It's as if they had to go with plan B or Plan C instead of Plan A on a lot of these match ups. I'll break down how I feel about it with examples:

• Bo nickal is on the card, but is it against anyone we wanted to see him against?? ....no, it's practically another gimme fight for him when we all wanted to see him take a step up in comp I think, or at least given an interesting style match up.
• Kattar vs. aljo -- it's a good fight for sure, but was anybody asking for it? No, Wouldn't Kattar vs. Barboza or Yair be better? and wouldn't Aljo vs. ortega be better fights with those guys? all of those guys were unbooked looking for fights around the same time, but UFC somehow combined them in the least interesting way for me.
• Charles vs Arman -- again, a great fight, but people wanted to see one of those guys against Islam in a bigger title fight, so while it's great, it just feels like we got left hanging in regards to the title picture.
• Figgy vs. Gabrandt? again, a good fight, but kind of from left field and odd match making considering Figgy just beat a guy that schooled gabrandt. I expected a better fight for Figgy -- he's too old to be wasting time fighting backwards in my opinion.
• Harrison coming over after nunes retires just to face 43 year old holly feels a bit off the mark to me too. I actually enjoy WMMA, but I don't know. This just feels like 2 years too late. I wish they got her when nunes was around, and before harrison lost in PFL. Now we get her in the twilight of her career, so I don't see her being someone they can build the division around. Hopefully they start signing younger talent in that division, because that's what it needs....
• Gaethje vs. Max does feel like a last resort that the UFC scrambled for once they realized Islam was out of the picture.

So yeah, while I feel like there's tons of good fighters, I just feel like they missed the mark a bit with how they matched them together. It's still a solid card, though, and I'm sure I'll enjoy it.

I actually agree with every example other than the Arman vs Charles fight.
I think its a great fight and also a way to see what Arman really has inside of him.

It will also put the next in line after Justin fights Islam.

Kattar vs Barbosa would be a fuckin barn burner, but I think they want to see where Aljo sits unfortunately.
I think Barbosa would be a way better fight though.

Harrison vs Holm makes zero sense to me tbh, and Bo is gonna slow roll it until the guys he says "he can beat" are older.

Overall you make some really valid points here.

 

[blaseblase]

To claim the fights don't have consequence is ludicrous. Oliveira v Tsarukyan is a number one contender fight. Gaethje v Holloway is an action packed fight with the potential to have a new lightweight contender emerge. Zhang v Yan is a title fight. Jiri v. Rakic has title implications. Kattar v Sterling is the former bantamweight champ with the most title defenses making his featherweight debut. A brand new contender if he wins.

 

[akeller901]

The only way to save the card IMO is Conor vs Chandler for a new 165 lb division, and make Leon vs Chimaev for 175lb. Both interesting matchups, and you could than have Max vs Justin a #1 contenders matchup for the 165 pound belt. I know Chimaev fighting for the welterweight belt doesn’t make a ton of sense, but it gives him an extra 5 pounds to work with and makes a killer co main

 

[podsox]

When you bet on them, they are all meaningful

 

[fortheo]

I actually agree with every example other than the Arman vs Charles fight.
I think its a great fight and also a way to see what Arman really has inside of him.

It will also put the next in line after Justin fights Islam.

Kattar vs Barbosa would be a fuckin barn burner, but I think they want to see where Aljo sits unfortunately.
I think Barbosa would be a way better fight though.

Harrison vs Holm makes zero sense to me tbh, and Bo is gonna slow roll it until the guys he says "he can beat" are older.

Overall you make some really valid points here.

Oh, I love the arman vs oliveira fight. I was just expecting one of them to get a title fight, so this is kind of a step down from that level of excitement, but I still love the fight.

You picking Arman?

 

[empsim]

Agree, still a fun card though which feels fine for an anniversary. Which is if they get that huge main event which I can't really imagine.

 

[Black9]

I think Calvin Kattar vs Aljo is very meaningful.

Volk has lapped the division, the winner will fight for the title next if they put out a good performance just to get volk some new challengers(assuming he beats Topuria).

 

[Jasper_RB81]

People can't admit they were wrong... they have been bitching about UFC300 before a single fight was announced. Now that the card is stacked top to bottom the fights aren't "meaningful" enough.

Get the fck out of here.