Michael Bisping responds to UFC 300 main event complaints, believes card didn’t need Conor McGregor

The overblown expectations for a jaw-dropping UFC 300 main event meant nearly any matchup was going to be subjected to criticism.

That’s been especially true for the actual headliner where Alex Pereira will defend his light heavyweight title against Jamahal Hill in a matchup that was ultimately booked after almost the entire card had already been finalized. On any other pay-per-view, Pereira vs. Hill might be considered a solid main event but many fans erupted when that was announced as the final fight on arguably the biggest card in UFC history.

UFC Hall of Famer Michael Bisping understands why people got so agitated after Pereira vs. Hill was announced as the UFC 300 main event but he ultimately believes the complaints are unfounded.

“I think because it was UFC 300, they were expecting something like a Brock Lesnar versus Tom Aspinall or just wild superstars, like a Khabib [Nurmagomedov] versus GSP (Georges St-Pierre),” Bisping said when speaking to MMA Fighting. “The reality is if you look at UFC 200, what was that? Miesha Tate-Amanda Nunes, a great fight and that was still a fantastic card. I don’t think people were complaining. Sure, it was supposed to be Jon Jones vs. Daniel Cormier 2 and certain events unfolded that week to prevent that from going ahead.

“But listen when you look at Alex Pereira, what he’s achieved in this sport in such a short amount of time is just phenomenal. The man has only had what seven fights? Beat four former champions. Now he has the potential to fight and beat and add a fifth champion to his resume. Two-weight division champion in such a short amount of time. When you look at Alex Pereira, he only fights the best people out there. It seems like he’s only fighting champions time after time after time. Jamahal Hill, on the flipside, was the champ, beat Glover Teixeira, exciting style. Granted, not one of the biggest names in mixed martial arts pay-per-view history, but I think it’s an absolutely compelling fight.”

Because there was so much hype built around UFC 300, Bisping believes almost any fight short of something completely out of left field would have faced similar criticism as Pereira vs. Hill.

“It’s a legitimate title fight and it’s at the top of the bill of one of the best cards ever compiled,” Bisping said. “OK, maybe it wasn’t shattering the Earth or an earthquake or an avalanche of ‘oh my god’ but it was a fight that makes sense and it’s a fight that’s worthy to headline the bill in my opinion.”

Perhaps the biggest name available who didn’t get booked at UFC 300 was former two-division champion Conor McGregor.

Many people assumed McGregor’s return to action after nearly three years away would happen at the historic card in April but UFC CEO Dana White shot that down rather emphatically.

Add to that, McGregor just wrapped up weeks of promotion for his feature film debut in the newly released Road House remake that required him to travel around the globe for numerous premieres and media obligations. Under the terms of a contract with a film studio, actors are required to promote a project like that so McGregor spending nearly a month traveling to promote Road House would have made a training camp for UFC 300 nearly impossible.

Bisping argues as much star power as McGregor commands, his presence wasn’t really needed to sell UFC 300 when looking at the card from top to bottom.

“I don’t think there was ever any discussion of [Conor] being on 300,” Bisping said. “Who knows what the situation is with Conor. There’s been a lot of speculation, but he’s not fighting on this card. He will be fighting at some point, hopefully in summer as he announced. The man’s a superstar. When he comes back it will still be a massive event. I think UFC 300 doesn’t necessarily even need Conor.

“Conor builds these spectacular events with just his name added to it alone. So I think in some ways it’s nice that other people are getting the chance of headlining something so monumental and something that is so important to the timeline of the UFC.”

Back in 2016, McGregor was originally slated to headline UFC 200 before a disagreement led to him delaying his return until UFC 202 just over a month later. The gamble paid off for the UFC with both cards selling over 1 million pay-per-views in a very short amount of time.

If McGregor ends up fighting at UFC 303 in June, the promotion could enjoy a similar windfall as long as UFC 300 still produces blockbuster numbers.

From top to bottom, Bisping just doesn’t see how anyone can really complain about the quality of the card at UFC 300 even if you may not love the main event.

“I think on paper when you look at it, there’s a potential that this is the greatest fight card ever assembled,” Bisping said. “I know a lot of people will say ‘that’s Bisping being a company man.’ Because that’s a line people love to use but I think when you look at it from top to bottom, it might just be. The first fight of the night [Cody Garbrandt vs. Deiveson Figueiredo], two former champions and it just continues fight after fight after fight. Three title fights on the main card, so many champions, every fight is competitive.

“I know there’s a lot of people criticizing Dana [White] saying what is this? This main event’s a letdown. I’m sure if they had their way and they could just wave a magic wand, that they would have provided those kinds of fights but also there’s a lot of other reasons. Fighters go through certain things, they have other obligations. Maybe they don’t want to fight. Maybe there’s injuries. Maybe there’s movie obligations. A lot of moving pieces but still, top to bottom, a fantastic fight card.”