DANA WHITE admits he has concerns about the health of one of UFC 300’s headliners.
The MMA supremo ended months of intense speculation last weekend by finally revealing the showpiece bout for the promotion’s 300th pay-per-view event on April 13.
UFCUFC 300 takes place at the T-Mobile Arena on April 13[/caption]
UFCThe historic card will be headlined by a LHW title fight between Alex Pereira and Jamahal Hill[/caption]
GETTYUFC president Dana White has concerns over the health of Jamahal Hill[/caption]
Shortly after Ilia Topuria brutally KO’d Alexander Volkanovski to claim the featherweight title, White announced that UFC 300 would be headlined by a light-heavyweight title bout between champion Alex Pereira and Jamahal Hill.
The booking of the fight came as a huge shock as former champion Hill SNAPPED his Achilles last July.
Hill, however, has seemingly recovered enough to top the bill of the historic Las Vegas show, although White does have his concerns.
The 54-year-old said early on Sunday morning: “I don’t know [how Hill will respond].
“I’m friends with Kelsey Plum from the WNBA — she had the same injury.
“She came back [from an Achilles tear] and won MVP, a national title.
“[Hill] has been going to [UFC’s Performance Institute]. She recovered from that injury at [UFC’s Performance Institute].
“So, hopefully he’s good.”
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Hill’s shot at reclaiming the belt he vacated last summer was expected to headline UFC 301 in Pereira’s native Brazil in May.
And the American only found out his bid to become a two-time champion would top the UFC 300 bill hours before it was officially announced.
He told SportsNet: “I found out ‘for sure for sure’ that it was locked in since I been in this, since I got to the [UFC 298] venue.
“We talked about it and I agreed to it yesterday. I’m looking forward to the challenge.
“The challenge of Alex has become huge, you know?
“He’s done incredible things, two-division champion in the UFC in seven fights, quickest to ever do it.
“I just wanna get in there and see how I match up with him.”
Headlining the Sin City extravaganza means the world to Hill, the first Dana White‘s Contenders Series alum to win a UFC title.
He said: “It means a lot, even just being considered for it and them asking me to do it is huge.
GETTYJamahal Hill vacated the UFC 205lbs title in July after snapping his Achilles[/caption]
“It’s putting a lot of trust in my abilities and how I’m able to show up to put me at the helm of a card like that, and I appreciate that.
“Everybody wants to be on UFC 300, but realistically it didn’t really come on my radar and didn’t really happen until like yesterday.
“I’m not even gonna lie.
“Like, yesterday. When he called me, and he let me know the situation … well, basically the situation was they needed a main event.
“They had some things lined up but they preferred it be me and Alex.
“It was the first option, it’s what they really wanted.
“The people definitely wanted it, that’s what they’ve been asking me for months now, all week. Yeah, it made sense.”
GETTYAlex Pereira claimed the vacant LHW title at UFC 295 last November[/caption]