Former two-time undisputed middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya has been backed to headline UFC 300 next April by former title challenger, Chael Sonnen, who claims unbeaten divisional contender, Khamzat Chimaev should also feature on the monumental card.
Adesanya, a former two-time undisputed middleweight champion, headlined UFC 293 back in September most recently, suffering a stunning upset loss to arch-rival, Sean Strickland in a one-sided unanimous decision blemish.
And in the immediate aftermath of the Sydney, Australia card, Adesanya claimed he would remain sidelined from active competition for the foreseeable future – until 2027 at the earliest, in fact.
However, in the weeks following that outlandish claim, Israel Adesanya teased a potential return as soon as March, with an eye fixed on an incoming UFC Saudi Arabia card.
As for the above-mentioned, Chimaev, the unbeaten middleweight contender made his Octagon return at UFC 294 back in October, narrowly beating former welterweight champion, Kamaru Usman in a close, majority decision win in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
Ruled from a title turnaround against the above-mentioned, Strickland, Chimaev has undergone a surgical procedure on his hand to address a ligament injury suffered in his win over Usman earlier this year.
Israel Adesanya backed to headline UFC 300
And despite uncertainty over the return of Adesanya, akin to Chimaev, the aforenoted, Sonnen claims the duo are likely to feature at UFC 300 in April of next year.
“To have Conor McGregor back and not use him when he’s your biggest star would be hard to bet on,” Chael Sonnen said during an interview with MMA Junkie. “However, I do think we weill have a title fight in the main event and Conor McGregor doesn’t have a title. So, now if you put Conor on the card, you just put your biggest star not in a headliner, you just demoted your top guy, so i think that eliminates Conor.”
Chael Sonnen has some ideas for the #UFC300 main event.
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— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) December 18, 2023
“Either (Israel) Adesanya is coming back – I don’t but that, ‘I’m out until 2027,’” Chael Sonnen explained. “And I do think Adesanya particularly against (Dricus) du Plessis, but Adesanya in a rematch with Sean (Strickland) as well would be very main event worthy… Another big draw that the marketing department dropped the ball on, is (Khamzat) Chimaev.”
Do you think Israel Adesanya will headline UFC 300?