Late on Wednesday night, Jan. 10, UFC president Dana White announced that he'd be revealing a UFC 300 title fight in "20 minutes." That announcement did not come 20 minutes later and fans nearly lost it with the anticipation.
It took him almost two hours to announce that Zhang Weili would defend her strawweight title against Yan Xiaonan at UFC 300 in a historic first-ever China vs. China title fight. It does not appear that this will be the main or co-main event, so there are likely two more title fights for UFC 300.
BREAKING NEWS: Zhang vs Yan will happen at #UFC300. The first ever Chinese vs Chinese title fight. pic.twitter.com/ztyTnbCxHi
— danawhite (@danawhite) January 11, 2024
The fight is a good match-up but somewhat expected and not quite the fight fans had hoped White would be announcing for the event.
Here's how Twitter reacted to the delay and the eventual news.
Dana White updates his IG story with a “stevewilldoit” repost and not a #UFC300 title fight pic.twitter.com/TnewYeM6D9
— Craig Allen (@CraigAllenFNP) January 11, 2024
MMA fans: You said 20 minutes an hour and 20 minutes ago.
— MacMally 🍀 (@MacMallyMMA) January 11, 2024
Dana White: pic.twitter.com/eYKCQIv7JA
Dana White moments after saying he has an announcement pic.twitter.com/ysGDyuLGfj
— Ben Davis (@BenTheBaneDavis) January 11, 2024
when Dana White has mma twitter gripped by the nut sack for two full hours to announce Weili vs Yan pic.twitter.com/L6WMXynrYu
— MacMally 🍀 (@MacMallyMMA) January 11, 2024
@danawhite please end our suffering. pic.twitter.com/vAKT5IWU4v
— MS (@UFC_Obsessed) January 11, 2024
Dana White saying he was gonna announce a title fight for UFC 300 in 20 minutes then going radio silent for an hour and a half has the entire MMA world on the edge of our seats right now. Somebody check on Uncle Dana!!!
— Robbie Fox (@RobbieBarstool) January 11, 2024
“Dana could you announce these fights in one night instead of stringing us along all week?”
— ᴍᴍᴀ ᴍᴀʀᴄᴜs 🏝️ (@mmamarcuss) January 11, 2024
Dana White: pic.twitter.com/hB0FCRpFXv
dana white making an announcement that he’s going to make a fight announcement (he’s never going to announce it)
— Conner Burks (@connerburks) January 11, 2024
pic.twitter.com/92cCax8yIO
“Dana white said he would make a UFC 300 fight announcement in 20 minutes but it’s been an hour”
— Jen (@jennyfootball26) January 11, 2024
“Nope, nothing”
pic.twitter.com/JYm8hrduQ2
UFC 300 fight card [UPDATED]
- Zhang Weili vs. Yan Xiaonan - Strawweight title
- Jiri Prochazka vs. Aleksandar Rakic
- Charles Oliveira vs. Arman Tsarukyan
- Aljamain Sterling vs. Calvin Kattar
- Bo Nickal vs. Cody Brundage
Weili will look to defend her second run at the UFC strawweight championship. She's coming off a successful title defense versus Amanda Lemos at UFC 292 in August 2023.
Xiaonan is riding back-to-back wins over Jessica Andrade and Mackenzie Dern. Her latest bout, in May 2023 ended in a first round brutal knockout.