Back from his vacation in Bali, Dana White kept his promise and announced two back-to-back bangers in a special announcement - one scheduled for UFC 300.
Per White's revelation, No. 3-ranked Dustin Poirier will face No. 12-ranked Benoit Saint-Denis in a five-round co-main event of UFC 299, set to go down on March 9, 2024, at the Kaseya Center in Miami Florida.
"(Saint-Denis) has been saying he believes he's the new BMF of the UFC and he'll have the opportunity to prove it against Dustin Poirier, who's an absolute savage and always goes to war."
Poirier is coming off a head-kick knockout loss to Justin Gaethje for the BMF belt, while Saint-Denis is on a five-fight winning streak. His last victory came over Matt Frevola at UFC 295 with a first-round head kick KO.
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Next, White announced another massive UFC 300 fight. No. 1-ranked Charles Oliveira will take on No. 4 Arman Tsarukyan in a No. 1 contender's fight at the mega event, scheduled for April 13, 2024, at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Oliveira has only lost to Makhachev in his last 13 outings and is eyeing a rematch with Islam Makhachev to reclaim the lightweight belt. White confirmed that Oliveira was supposed to fight Makhachev, but the lightweight champion is still recovering from an injury. He also revealed that Makhachev will return to action in the summer of 2024.
"The winner will face Islam when he returns this summer."
Tsarukyan is on a three-fight winning streak. His last victory was against Beneil Dariush last December with a first-round finish.
Watch Dana White's announcements below:
White had previously announced three fights for UFC 300 - a light heavyweight clash between Aleksandar Rakic and Jiri Prochazka, Aljamain Sterling's featherweight debut against Calvin Kattar and Bo Nickal's return to the octagon opposite Cody Brundage.