Dana White Discusses UFC 300 Card-Building Process, Praises Leon Edwards

Producing a high-quality fight card can be a challenging process, especially when it’s an event like UFC 300.

After plenty of buzz and speculation, UFC CEO Dana White announced Saturday night that Alex Pereira will defend the light heavyweight title against Jamahal Hill in the UFC 300 headliner. While it wasn’t necessarily the type of jaw-dropping main event some were expecting, it helps round out one of the promotion’s deepest overall cards in recent memory.

According to White, there are a lot of factors that went into finding the suitable headliner for the highly-anticipated card.

“This was not about money,” White said at the UFC 298 post-fight press conference on Saturday night. “It was all about timing. We’ve got three killer cards in a row and in this business you have injuries and all kinds of other bulls—t that goes on behind the scenes. We’ve been talking about [UFC] 300 forever. We were just trying to make the best fights that we could possibly make. We had two more fights to make and we’re trying to put on two bad-ass fights.

“These two guys [Pereira and Hill] are it. I’m sure you saw the video, I walked through who they both are, what they’ve both done. Both guys are hungry. They both want it. No way that fight sucks.”

Though all the possibilities that were discussed for UFC 300 may never be revealed, one fighter who was apparently willing to step up against multiple opponents was reigning welterweight champion Leon Edwards.

“We were out there talking to lots of people, trying ot make lots of fights,” White said. “In this business it’s about taking opportunities — headining UFC 300 with all the buzz and all the energy around it.

“Let me say this: Leon Edwards has had like three opponents throughout this thing. Leon Edwards doesn’t say no to anybody. This kid is an absolute stud. He’s had three opponents thrown at him during UFC 300. [He said], ‘Yes, yes and yes.’ He was willing to take on anybody. Kid’s an absolute stud. Leon, thank you and respect.”

White also confirmed on Saturday that the promotion still has one more fight to announce for the event. UFC 300 takes place on April 13 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and will feature a six-fight main card topped by the clash between Pereira and Hill.