Former UFC champion Daniel Cormier is making his predictions for UFC 300.
The upcoming pay-per-view (PPV) card, tentatively scheduled for April 2024, is expected to feature the absolute best the promotion has to offer, similar to the UFC 100 and UFC 200 events that preceded it. Not surprisingly, former two-division champion Conor McGregor — the biggest draw in the history of the sport — is loosely attached to the five-round main event.
“UFC 100 had Brock [Lesnar], right? With Georges St-Pierre and all those guys,” Cormier said on his “DC & RC” show. “UFC 200 had Brock, it was supposed to me and [Jon] Jones also but it ended up being me, Anderson Silva, Brock, all these guys, big names,” Cormier said. “UFC 300 has to have a name like that. We don’t have Brock Lesnar anymore. So, I think you have to have a Conor McGregor versus Michael Chandler. I think Michael Chandler gets his shot now, in the main event. Boy, Michael Chandler will headline UFC 300, how crazy is that?”
McGregor and Chandler have been attached to a potential UFC main event since they were first announced as Ultimate Fighter (TUF) coaches earlier this year. Unfortunately, drug testing issues kept “Notorious” at bay, which inadvertently led to the demise of USADA (and the delay of their fight).
As far as the UFC 300 co-headliner, that may prove to be a more difficult prediction.
“Co-main event, when I look down the line, I know that Jones and Stipe [Miocic] will not be ready,” Cormier continued. “I do believe that whoever wins the [interim heavyweight] belt this weekend will have to fight again. Leon Edwards or Colby Covington will then be available again, right? Because they fight [at UFC 296] in December. I believe it’ll be one of them, if not both. The interim heavyweight champion and then the welterweight champion will also fight at UFC 300.”
Jones injured himself in training camp and was forced to withdraw from UFC 295 this weekend in New York. Early projections don’t have “Bones” back in action until mid-2024, leaving the winner of Tom Aspinall vs. Sergei Pavlovich — who collide for the substitute strap — riding the pine until further notice.
The promotion has yet to make any announcements regarding UFC 300.