UFC 300 brought us some of the most memorable moments, that will likely go down in combat sports history. On the night, we saw some amazing results, which brought a lot of joy to some and inexplicable grief to others. As such, the same was very evident with Alexander Volkanovski and Israel Adesanya.
Seeing that UFC 300 was littered with moments of pure brilliance, there were some that peaked a little over the rest. Whilst Kayla Harrison, Jiri Prochazka, and Diego Lopes’ performances were big highlights, Alex Pereira and Max Holloway’s wins were perhaps even bigger. All things considered, their wins over Justin Gaethje and Jamahal Hill will likely go down as a few of the most iconic moments in UFC history.
Easy day in the office for @AlexPereiraUFC 😮💨
He gets the first round TKO to retain his LHW belt! #UFC300 pic.twitter.com/7Qbx3xB7GE
— UFC (@ufc) April 14, 2024
THE BADDEST MOTHERF****R 😮💨 @BlessedMMA | #UFC300 pic.twitter.com/WHtaTOmniw
— UFC (@ufc) April 14, 2024
Whilst Max Holloway delivered one of the most brutal, buzzer-beating KOs of all time to Justin Gaethje to win the BMF title, Pereira shut up the former LHW champion Jamahal Hill after weeks of trash talk. Moreover, Poatan’s gestures and the finishing sequence of the fight made it one of his most vindicating wins as well. Thus, with fans and fighters watching on from around the globe, UFC 300 truly delivered as advertised.
How did Alexander Volkanovski and Israel Adesanya react to UFC 300?
For the most part, many fighters elected to be in attendance at the T-Mobile Arena to watch the event in person. One of them was the former middleweight champion Israel Adesanya. With his arch-nemesis, Alex Pereira defending the light heavyweight title, it was clear which way Izzy’s allegiances lay. In the buildup to the fight, Adesanya had been in talks with Jamahal Hill, the leading authority on how to beat Pereira.
Israel Adesanya’s live reaction to Alex Pereira’s first round knockout of Jamahal Hill 😳
🎥 @ufc #UFC300 #UFC #MMA pic.twitter.com/gCTgmBHlsb
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) April 14, 2024
However, as said by Glover Teixeira, Izzy’s nuggets of information did not help as Hill found himself knocked out in Round 1. Naturally, Adesanya who was more so rooting against Pereira than for Hill cut a rather speechless figure, uttering “Damn” as he looked on at the replays on the big screen. On the other hand, Alexander Volkanovski had a much different reaction when his rival, Max Holloway knocked out Justin Gaethje.
Ahead and throughout the fight, Volk was putting it all on Holloway, stating that his transition to lightweight is being underrated. Thus, as the Aussie former champ had suggested, Max did well on the feet, finding a lot of success with combinations. In the closing moments of the fight, Holloway did the most BMF thing ever, inviting and knocking out Gaethje in the center of the Octagon, which led to an overjoyed expression from Volk.
In the past, Volkanovski and Holloway have squared off on three occasions with the former winning all three. Despite this, he has a lot of respect and admiration for his comrade and has wished him well throughout. According to fans on social media, the difference in Volk and Izzy’s reactions is a clear representation of their personalities.
Tom Aspinall makes his thoughts known about an Alex Pereira matchup
Following Alex Pereira‘s win at UFC 300, he revealed what he wanted to do next in his career. Having already become a two-division champion and made a defense of his LHW title in less than three years since his arrival, the man has a resume and reign that will be talked about for generations to come. At the same time, Pereira is not yet resting on his laurels and wants to continue to push the boundaries.
Coming into his fight against Jamahal Hill at UFC 300, Pereira clarified that he would be willing to headline UFC 301 in Brazil a few weeks later. Not only that, Alex also revealed his wish to fight at heavyweight. Currently, it is unknown whether he wants the heavyweight fight at UFC 301 or later on. Right on cue, Tom Aspinall, the man to whom he was previously linked, let his thoughts known on social media.
Alex Pereira reacts to Tom Aspinall’s cryptic social media post after his #UFC300 title defense. 👀 pic.twitter.com/gQiYVZ6UVi
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) April 14, 2024
Whilst Pereira breezed over questions regarding Aspinall’s post, it is likely for the best. Seeing that Alex has never fought at the weight class, taking on the interim champ and probably the best fighter in the division is not the right move. Seeing that Aspinall beats him in every metric at the weight class, Alex would be better suited to take on a lower-level opponent to get his feet wet first.