LAS VEGAS — The talk of Thursday's UFC 300 pre-fight press conference was nose and ear talk. That makes sense. What else do you expect when he brings together so many accomplished fighters at different stages of their careers in one place for one special event?
Former featherweight champion Max Holloway's nose has gotten bigger and wider over the years, showing that he has passed through the sport like a tree ring. His opponent, Justin Gaethje, has a sunken beak that makes his voice sound like he has a permanent cold every time he speaks.
And then there was Arman Tsarukyan's shredded ears (and nose). And college wrestling star Bo Knickal's ears stick out from his head like mug handles, a warning sign as well as a sign of what he wants to do after the cage door closes on Saturday night. It is also a powerful indicator. And Renato Moicano's nose slowly flared out across his face, as if occupied by a conquering army.
Watching them all take to the stage for the press conference was a reminder that no one makes it through this sport unscathed. Still, as the biggest UFC event of the year took place, they did their best to polish up the bodies and faces they paid many times more for admission.
When the lineup for UFC 300 was finalized, it was criticized by disappointed fans and the media, but seeing a full range of fighting skills and experience come together succeeded in driving home the magnitude of this event. . When you have a former champion fighting in the first qualifying match of the night, you know it's bound to be a big match.
Even the main event didn't quite live up to UFC president Dana White's promise of a truly “insane” matchup, but it still generated some heat as the fighters gathered on stage.
Former light heavyweight champion Jamahal Hill showed up Saturday night carrying a battered and bloody miniature Easter Island head and held it up to promise Alex Pereira what's next.
“It's just to give people an idea of the visuals they're going to see on Saturday night,” Hill said, to loud boos from the fans in attendance.
It was the only moment during the match that reigning champion Pereira spoke without waiting for it to be translated into Portuguese. I didn't even have to wait for a response.
“I remind him of this moment when I'm on strike and I'm about to go into the Octagon and my music is playing,” Pereira said through an interpreter. “I'll make him remember this moment.”
The fuse is now lit for the UFC 300 main event. Hill fired back, addressing Pereira for the first time, inviting the champion to “write it down, take a picture, I don't do AF***.”
“You go in there with me, there's nothing to talk about,” Hill continued. “There's nothing to say. It's okay here, I'm rooting for you seriously.”
Nothing excites a press conference crowd more than two men promising to hurt each other in memorable ways. This is especially true if many in that crowd paid large ticket prices to see them perform that Saturday.
The line to attend the event stretched throughout the MGM Grand Casino Thursday afternoon. It was to see people discuss upcoming battles. Waiting for it meant weaving through parts of the casino that smelled like piped perfume, then on to parts that smelled like cigarette smoke, and past a food court mixed with fried aromas. , meant entering an arena that only asks you to ask. Pour your expensive margarita into the included plastic cup. Still, no one in line seemed to question whether it was worth it.
What you can really understand with a match card like this is: Are known So are all the fighters out there. There are no famous or lesser-known works. Not UFC 300. Fans of this sport know the story and stakes of every match on this card. The mere mention of a fighter's name during a press conference revealed how the public felt about him. (“A question for Charles Oliveira…'' was met with loud cheers each time, but questions for his opponent, Tsarukyan, were mostly drowned out by boos after his name was played.)
There was also a sense of spaciousness in the room we were in. Jim Miller, who fought in UFC 100, UFC 200, and UFC 300, has a living memory of the long journey that got him here. Moicano watched his first bicentennial event from his couch and couldn't help but celebrate the fact that he can now be a part of UFC 300 history.
Moments like this, so big that the fighters themselves seem like fans, don't come along very often. But there are no such events either. And anyone who has experienced the thrills and pains of the first his 299th century knows that the next century's record won't happen without extracting that price from everyone who got us there. I know that.
