It seems as if the UFC really are struggling to pin down a suitable main event for UFC 300 as it’s emerged they reached out to currently injured heavyweight champion Jon Jones to see if he could headline the show.
“I got a call from Hunter Campbell, one of the head lawyers of the UFC, asking me, he said, ‘Jon I know it’s only nine weeks away but if there’s any chance that you’re feeling up to it, it’d be awesome news for the community that you’re coming back and headlining one of the biggest events ever.’” Jones told Submission Radio.
“As honored as I am for the opportunity, I just don’t think I’ll be ready. I just don’t. I’m getting up there in age and I only have a few more events left, and I want to give those events my all and make sure I come back 100%.”
Jones has been out of action since winning the vacant title by submitting Ciryl Gane last year due to suffering a torn pectoral muscle in training that required surgery.
The last update we’d heard from Dana White had suggested that a summer return was likely for Jones, so the fact that they were suddenly trying to get him to fight in April suggests that the UFC brass are rapidly running out of options for a high-profile headliner.
Jones revelation comes just days after middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis appeared to pour cold water on the possibility of him fronting the UFC 300 event opposite his rival Israel Adesanya, suggesting that he’d rather wait until the UFC comes to South Africa for that showdown.
Not so long ago Dana White had appeared confident about meeting everyone’s expectations, stating that he had a couple of options for a “crazy” main event, but after Friday Night’s Power Slap event in Las Vegas he seemed much more subdued about it.
“Who knows who’s going to be the UFC 300 headliner,” White told reporters. “We’ve been working on it. It’s been interesting, I can tell you that. Because obviously we want to deliver. I keep saying this [Deiveson] Figueiredo vs. Cody Garbrandt is literally the first fight of the night. So if you look at the card where it sits today, every single fight could be a main event on a Fight Night or a pay-per-view.
“We’ve got two more fights that we’ve got to put together. We’re working on it.”
As things stand the most attention-grabbing fight on the UFC 300 line-up is a battle for the symbolic ‘BMF’ title between current champion Justin Gaethje and former featherweight kingpin Max Holloway, but while there’s also a lot of good fights throughout the rest of the card it does feel like they are still missing the final blockbuster piece of the puzzle.
“I’d announce it now if we had it,” White said. “We’ve gone through a lot of crazy s*** trying to put this fight together. It’s been interesting. No date [to announce it]. ASAP is the date.”
