Ariel Helwani issues reality check to fans angered by lack of major announcements for UFC 300
Ariel Helwani has warned fans not to expect UFC 300 to deliver anything like previous landmark shows due to the lack of active MMA superstars.
UFC CEO Dana White has promised to deliver a card of the ages in Las Vegas on April 13 as the company celebrates its 300th pay-per-view show.
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However, fans have been unimpressed by the fights he has announced so far because they don’t bear a resemblance to what was on offer at UFC 100 in July 2009 and UFC 200 seven years later.
MMA’s leading journalist thinks there’s an obvious reason for that.
“2016 was the greatest year in UFC history,” Helwani said on .
“UFC 200 was in the midst of that year, and maybe the big takeaway is there just aren’t as many superstars on the roster as there was in 2016.
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“The story here is, they just don’t have that many superstars right now.
“The UFC has never been hotter, they’ve never been more profitable, they are humming along and killing it – but the biggest star of the UFC is the UFC, the brand, Dana White.
“Everyone else is just solid, but no megastars that are actively fighting.
Conor McGregor, Nate Diaz, Ronda Rousey, Jon Jones, Daniel Cormier, Michael Bisping, Stipe Miocic, and Brock Lesnar all fought for MMA’s premier promotion in 2016.
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Today, some of them have retired, others have moved on and the few that remain with the UFC aren’t available to compete on the show for various reasons.
Helwani believes if fans simply accept UFC 300 for what it is, rather than expect what White promised, they’ll all enjoy the highly-anticipated card much more.
UFC CEO Dana White announces upcoming fights for lightweights Dustin 'The Diamond' Poirier and Charles 'do Bronx' Oliveira
He added: “It seems like every announcement is met with like, 'And what else? What else are you gonna do about UFC 300? What else are you gonna do?'
“You're all driving yourselves insane. This is going to be a very good card. That's it. It's gonna be a very good card. And it's gonna have, probably, a big name in every single fight. And there's gonna be no sort of filler prelim. But you're all driving yourselves insane.
"To your point, Dana White is setting everyone up for failure here, for disappointment, because he's saying, 'I've got a big announcement', and then it's that.
“You can't do that. You've gotta read the room. You've gotta know the audience. If they just would announce these fights here and there, and in one shot, I don't think people would feel the same way."
UFC 300 (So far)
Weili Zhang vs Yan Xiaonan
Jiri Prochazka vs Aleksandr Rakic
Calvin Kattar vs Aljamain Sterling
Bo Nickal vs Cody Brundage
Charles Oliveira vs Arman Tsarukyan
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