Ariel Helwani recently dropped a bombshell as he shared an explosive list of possible fights that are allegedly in the works for the upcoming milestone UFC 300 event, which is scheduled to take place on April 13.
There has been plenty of speculation as of late, especially after Dana White's latest update that there will be two more additions to the event. During today's episode of The MMA Hour, the Canadian MMA journalist noted that there are some surprising bouts that have been worked on, with two of them involving reigning welterweight champion Leon Edwards and the other being the highly anticipated middleweight title bout between Israel Adesanya and champion Dricus du Plessis.
Helwani revealed that one of the bouts would see Edwards defend his title against Belal Muhammad, while the other would see him defend his title against Khamzat Chimaev. He mentioned that 'Rocky' vs. 'Borz' is the desired bout to headline, but there are hurdles that could prevent that from being a reality. He said:
"I think that the top choice is Leon [Edwards] vs. Khamzat [Chimaev]. This could all fizzle out and I think we'll find out in the next few days. But I believe that is the top choice at the moment. I also believe those other 3 fights are at play as well. Leon-Belal, Izzy-DDP, and Khamzat-DDP as well. And so, let's see what happens."
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It will be interesting to see how the whole situation plays out as Chimaev is currently in a favorable position to challenge for the middleweight championship, so moving back to 170 pounds could signify that Adesanya is challenging Du Plessis next.
Ariel Helwani sounds off on fans who thought UFC 300 headliner would be announced during Super Bowl
Ariel Helwani recently sounded off on fans who thought that the UFC 300 main event was going to be announced during last night's Super Bowl in the form of a commercial.
During today's episode of The MMA Hour, Helwani brought up fans being convinced that such an announcement would be made, especially considering that the Super Bowl aired on CBS. He mentioned that commercials are planned well in advance and noted that it would only be a possibility if the big game aired on ABC because of their TV deal with ESPN. He said:
"What my takeaway was I guess people just don't understand how this stuff works. they can't just wedge their way onto the broadcast...Why would they [CBS] do that? It's not their property, it's not on their network, it's not on their platform. So, that was obviously ruled out...You think they're putting these commercials together like, on two days notice?"