Dana White’s buzzing with excitement for UFC 300. It’s set to light up the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas come April 13.
Back in the day, White figured UFC 100 was a distant dream. He thought he’d be old and gray before it happened. But, surprise, surprise, the Ultimate Fighting Championship took off like a rocket. Now, they’re almost throwing parties every weekend, with UFC 300 just around the corner.
White shared a funny story during a chat with TNT Sports. Picture this: him and Lorenzo Fertitta, chilling at the Taj Mahal in Atlantic City. They stumble upon two old dudes, going at it, yelling in the hallway. Lorenzo’s like, “That’s gonna be us at UFC 100.” Mind you, this was around UFC 31. They were thinking, at five events a year, they’d be ancient by UFC 100. But, oh, how times have changed. Now, they’re cranking out 44 events annually. And just like that, UFC 100 came and went. Now, we’re gearing up for 300.
White’s on a mission to make UFC 300 unforgettable. He’s been digging through stats, aiming to smash records at the T-Mobile Arena with a whopping $15 million gate.
He’s thinking big. White wants UFC 300 to be a game-changer. From the get-go, from the very first prelim, you’ve gotta be glued to your screen. No missing a single fight.
The lineup? Insane. We’re talking 12 current and former UFC champs, seven pound-for-pound beasts, and a whole bunch of ranked contenders. Sixteen, to be exact. White’s betting on UFC 300 to outdo every record at the T-Mobile Arena. It’s shaping up to be the combat sports event of the century. Even boxing, in its heyday, never stacked up to this.
The UFC’s been killing it with pay-per-views this year. UFC 297 set records in Canada. UFC 298 did the same in California. And UFC 299? It’s now the fourth highest-grossing UFC card ever. All thanks to Conor McGregor headlining the top three.
After all the hype, the UFC 300 lineup has fans split. Sure, the card’s stacked. Jiri Prochazka and Aljamain Sterling are just warming up the prelims. But the main and co-main events? They’ve got folks scratching their heads. Light heavyweight champ Alex Pereira takes on Jamahal Hill. And Weili Zhang defends her strawweight title against Xiaonan Yan. Top-tier fights, no doubt. But they haven’t quite lived up to the wild expectations White set. He once said the main event would blow our minds. Guess we’ll just have to wait and see.