Matchmaking for Alex Pereira, Max Holloway other UFC 300 winners

Alex Pereira

The UFC light heavyweight champion did what he does best in the UFC 300 main event, knocking Jamahal Hill out in round one. After picking up his first title defense in the Octagon, the former GLORY Kickboxing world champion was awarded his Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt from friend and head coach Glover Teixeira after the fight.

Pereira's UFC career has been one of the most unique runs in promotional history and the 36-year-old appears to desire more legendary accomplishments as he previously stated that he wants to headline UFC 301 in May. Having taken no damage in the fight with Hill, the rare turnaround would now be physically possible.

From a UFC perspective, the move would be ideal, with the UFC 301 pay-per-view card currently struggling on paper. Having Pereira turn around on one month's notice after headlining UFC 300 would not only increase his star power but create more intrigue in enticing fans to fork over $80 on the May 4 event.

The next light heavyweight title challenger should be without question, as Magomed Ankalaev has been the essential no. 1 contender for over two years. But with the UFC hesitant to put the Russian into a title fight — particularly with his wrestling-heavy style a nightmare matchup for Pereira — there is no guarantee. Should the UFC and Pereira pull off the back-to-back pay-per-view headlining stunt, it would also seem unlikely that Ankalaev would be keen on accepting the opportunity on short notice.

With that being said, we are predicting that Pereira will headline UFC 301 in less than one month and do so against an old foe who also picked up a win on UFC 300: Jiri Prochazka. Prochazka made a big statement on his Samurai ethics after his win over Aleksandar Rakic and given his fan appeal and the controversial nature of the way UFC 295 ended, there are several reasons to run back the rematch.