‘It’s Time’ … For UFC 300?

Could Nate Diaz and Alex Pereira be fighting at UFC 300? Recent social media posts from both fighters have fans buzzing at the possibility.

The first fight announcements for UFC 300 dropped last night, and while we still don’t know what the main event or Dana White’s secret ‘superfight’ will be, those fights could be revealed at any moment.

The obvious slam dunk main event for this historic card would be Conor McGregor’s long awaited return against Michael Chandler. That’s one of the biggest fights the UFC could realistically book, and there’s no clear back-up option that wouldn’t seem like a letdown compared to Mac vs. Mike.

Jon Jones is injured, Israel Adesanya is taking a break, and Sean O’Malley is booked already. Khamzat Chimaev is injured and can’t seem to enter the U.S. any more. Who’s left that moves the needle significantly?

That question has led many fans to speculate on some wild outside-the-box possibilities: Brock Lesnar, Ronda Rousey, Georges St-Pierre, and Nick Diaz keep coming up as possibilities, despite the UFC’s flat denials. And now Nate Diaz is generating buzz with some cryptic Instagram posts.

“Setting the move,” one post was captioned, with a picture of Nate texting on his phone. The follow-up post simply read “It’s time.”

We’ll let you read as much or as little into that as you’d like. It is a reminder that Nate Diaz is out there hoping to fight in early 2024, and he doesn’t seem interested in involving Jake Paul or the PFL.

A possible fight against Dustin Poirier has been years in the making. There’s also the trilogy fight with McGregor, if the UFC doesn’t mind doing Michael Chandler dirty (they don’t). And while we’re opening up the matchmaking on Mac, a welterweight title fight against Leon Edwards is also right there. Conor spent several months insisting he was coming for the 170 pound belt, so you know he wouldn’t say no.

We’re starting to get pretty far out into the weeds with all this speculation. Now let’s go even further: check out this riddle UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira posted on his social media.

“30 + 300 = 3” he wrote with a hmm emoji. The hard working codebreakers at r/MMA believe he’s suggesting a 30th combat sports career knockout at UFC 300 would win him a third title. Alex Pereira vs. interim heavyweight champ Tom Aspinall, anyone?

That’s it for the rumor mill at this moment. We’ll keep you updated on all the solid developments surrounding UFC 300 as they happen. Until then, let us know in the comments what your craziest dream match-ups for the card are.