The first fights for UFC 300 are official after Dana White announced several matchups for the historic card set to take place on April 13.
Former bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling will make his featherweight debut when he clashes with Calvin Kattar. Jiri Prochazka returns in his first appearance since falling in the vacant 205-pound title fight in November as he faces off with Aleksandar Rakic.
Finally, middleweight prospect Bo Nickal makes his long awaited return when he meets Cody Brundage at UFC 300.
While those three fights are official, the UFC CEO stopped short of announcing the main event just yet but it’s likely more matchups — including any title bouts — will drop in the near future.
The historic card will see Sterling move up to 145 pounds for the first time after he lost his bantamweight title to Sean O’Malley in August. Sterling long teased a potential bump up to featherweight but now that’s official and he’ll get a tough test right out of the gate when he faces Kattar in April.
Kattar looks to get back on track after going 1-3 in his past four fights, which included a loss to Arnold Allen back in October 2022 when he suffered a torn ACL in his knee. Now Kattar makes his return while welcoming Sterling to the featherweight division.
Meanwhile, Prochazka attempts to get back in win column after he suffered a knockout loss to Alex Pereira in his attempt to win back the UFC light heavyweight title. Prior to that setback, Prochazka hadn’t tasted defeat in the UFC while earning wins over Glover Teixeira, Dominick Reyes and Volkan Oezdemir.
Rakic will try to hand Prochazka a second straight loss when he returns from his own injury after falling to Jan Blachowicz back in May 2022. Rakic was originally scheduled for a rematch with Blachowicz in January but the former UFC light heavyweight champion from Poland suffered a shoulder injury that forced him off the card.
Now Rakic draws Prochazka instead at UFC 300.
Finally, Nickal — a three-time NCAA champion wrestler — looks to keep his undefeated record intact when he faces Brundage, who is coming off an impressive slam knockout over Zachary Reese in December. Nickal currently sports a perfect 2-0 record in the UFC and he’ll look to make it three in a row when he faces Brundage in April.
