UFC 300 is star studded, but Daniel Cormier is putting the spotlight on two fighters.
Cormier was first asked who he thinks has the most to gain at Saturday’s historic UFC 300 (pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+), which takes place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Cormier picked Jamahal Hill (12-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) as the fighter with the most to gain. Hill challenges light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira (9-2 MMA, 6-1 UFC) in the main event, where he’ll look to reclaim the belt he vacated due to injury.
“Anytime you’re fighting for a championship, that’s the person with the most to gain,” Cormier said on his ESPN show “Good Guy/Bad Guy” with Chael Sonnen. “For me, it’s Jamahal Hill. Jamahal Hill never lost that championship. Jamahal Hill is back now fighting for the belt, and he’s fighting against a guy that’s a double champion that everybody feels walks on water. If Jamahal Hill wins this fight, his star will shine brighter than it ever has.”
As for who has the most to lose, Cormier picked Charles Oliveira (34-9 MMA, 22-9 UFC), who meets Arman Tsarukyan (21-3 MMA, 8-2 UFC) in a No. 1 contender bout at lightweight. Oliveira was scheduled to rematch lightweight champion Islam Makhachev this past October at UFC 294 but was forced out due to a cut.
“Charles Oliveira has the most to lose at UFC 300,” Cormier said. “He was, like I said, the No. 1 contender. He is now fighting a guy that is on his way up. It’s the same situation as Dustin Poirier and Benoit Saint Denis. When you are a guy that had lived at the top of the division, a guy that was the champion, that has fought the biggest fights in the organization – when you’re in the position that you’ve got to give the kid a chance, you cannot lose. And if you do, you’re really going to suffer for it.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 300.
