UFC 300: Pereira vs. Hill | Event Profile, Full Results & Legacy
- Daniel Cornmeat
- 3 hours ago
- 6 min read
Introduction
UFC 300 took place on Saturday, April 13, 2024 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas — the UFC's landmark 300th numbered PPV event. The promotion assembled the deepest card in its history: a light heavyweight title fight, a BMF belt fight, a strawweight title fight, and multiple top-five contender bouts across the card. It produced an estimated 1.2 million pay-per-view buys — the highest UFC PPV since Khabib vs. McGregor at UFC 229 in 2018.
The card produced what is widely considered the single greatest moment in UFC history: Max Holloway knocking out Justin Gaethje with the last punch of round five, at 4:59 of the fifth round, while standing still and inviting Gaethje to punch him. The "do not blink" sequence — where Holloway stood in the center of the cage, hands down, daring Gaethje to hit him with one second left, then landed the finishing punch at the buzzer — became the most replayed UFC moment of 2024.
Alex Pereira retained the light heavyweight title by TKO of Jamahal Hill at 3:30 of round one, his most clinical finish of the championship reign. Zhang Weili defended the strawweight title against Yan Xiaonan via unanimous decision in the final fight of the preliminary card.
Contents
Quick Stats
📅 Date: Saturday, April 13, 2024
📍 Venue: T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
👥 Attendance: 20,171 (full capacity)
💰 Gate: $17.4 million (highest UFC gate since UFC 229)
📺 PPV Buys: ~1,200,000 (highest since Khabib vs. McGregor at UFC 229 in 2018)
🏆 Main Event: Alex Pereira (c) vs. Jamahal Hill — UFC Light Heavyweight Championship (205 lbs)
✅ Result: Pereira def. Hill via TKO (punches) — R1, 3:30
🥇 Co-Main: Max Holloway def. Justin Gaethje via KO (punch) — R5, 4:59 — BMF Title
The Build-Up
The UFC had been building toward its 300th numbered PPV event since 2022. UFC 300 was framed as the most significant card in promotion history — a deliberate assembly of the deepest fight card since UFC 205 in November 2016. Alex Pereira defended the light heavyweight title against Jamahal Hill — the man who had held the belt before vacating due to injury, and whose recovery was remarkable enough to earn a title shot within a year.
The co-main was Max Holloway vs. Justin Gaethje for the BMF belt. Gaethje had won the belt from Dustin Poirier at UFC 291; Holloway was the former featherweight champion, a fan favourite, and the most-beloved non-champion fighter on the UFC roster. The BMF fight was framed as the most entertaining possible pairing — two men who would never back down, guaranteed to produce violence.
The undercard featured: Zhang Weili defending the strawweight title, Jiri Prochazka vs. Aleksandar Rakic, Charles Oliveira vs. Arman Tsarukyan, Bo Nickal vs. Cody Brundage, and Calvin Kattar vs. Aljamain Sterling — the deepest UFC undercard of the modern era.
Main Event: Pereira vs. Hill
Alex Pereira retained the light heavyweight title in 3:30 of round one. Hill pressed forward with his jab in the first minute; Pereira countered with his right hand twice. At 2:45, Pereira landed a clean left hook that wobbled Hill against the cage. He pressed with sustained body-head combinations; a right hand at 3:15 dropped Hill. Follow-up ground strikes brought referee Keith Peterson in at 3:30.
The TKO was Pereira's most clinical UFC finish — the fight ended before Hill could impose his own physical advantages. Pereira was 5-0 in UFC title fights (middleweight and light heavyweight combined) with four stoppage wins. He would defend again against Prochazka 2 at UFC 303 in June 2024 (KO R2) and Rountree at UFC 307 (TKO R4) before losing the title to Ankalaev at UFC 313.
Co-Main Event: Holloway vs. Gaethje — The Last Second
The fight went five rounds of elite lightweight striking. Gaethje won rounds one and two on forward pressure and body shots; Holloway won rounds three and four on volume and his counter-striking. Round five was the decider. With one second left in round five, at 4:58, the ringside doctor had signaled a potential stoppage check; instead referee Herb Dean kept the fight going. Holloway stood in the center of the cage, hands at his sides, and invited Gaethje to punch him. Gaethje threw — Holloway parried — Holloway landed a clean right hand at 4:59 that dropped Gaethje. The buzzer sounded. Referee Herb Dean stopped the fight.
Max Holloway was the BMF champion. The finish — with one second on the clock, hands at his sides, KO'ing one of the most dangerous lightweights alive in round five of a championship-level fight — was immediately identified as the single greatest moment in UFC history by a significant portion of the MMA community. The post-fight "do not blink" sequence became a viral cultural phenomenon worldwide.
Full Results
Main Card (Pay-Per-View)
Alex Pereira (c) def. Jamahal Hill — TKO (punches) — R1, 3:30 — Light Heavyweight Title
Max Holloway def. Justin Gaethje — KO (punch) — R5, 4:59 — BMF Title
Charles Oliveira def. Arman Tsarukyan — Submission (rear-naked choke) — R3, 1:36 — Lightweight
Jiri Prochazka def. Aleksandar Rakic — Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) — Light Heavyweight
Bo Nickal def. Cody Brundage — TKO (punches) — R1, 2:37 — Middleweight
Preliminary Card (ESPN/ESPN+)
Zhang Weili (c) def. Yan Xiaonan — Unanimous Decision (50-45, 50-45, 49-46) — Strawweight Title
Aljamain Sterling def. Calvin Kattar — Unanimous Decision (29-28 ×3) — Featherweight
Renato Moicano def. Jalin Turner — Unanimous Decision (30-27 ×3) — Lightweight
Kayla Harrison def. Holly Holm — Unanimous Decision (29-28 ×3) — Women's Bantamweight
Bonuses & Awards
🥇 Performance of the Night: Max Holloway — $50,000 for the 4:59 R5 KO of Justin Gaethje — the single greatest finish in UFC history.
🥇 Performance of the Night: Alex Pereira — $50,000 for the first-round TKO of Jamahal Hill.
🥇 Performance of the Night: Charles Oliveira — $50,000 for the third-round rear-naked choke submission of Arman Tsarukyan.
Records & Milestones
• Holloway KO at 4:59 R5 — with one second remaining, the most iconic finish in UFC history.
• 1.2 million estimated PPV buys — the highest UFC PPV number since Khabib vs. McGregor at UFC 229 in 2018.
• $17.4 million gate — the highest UFC gate since UFC 229.
• Pereira's fourth consecutive UFC title-fight finish (TKO, TKO, TKO, TKO) — the most clinical title-defense streak in the modern era.
• UFC 300 — widely identified as the greatest MMA event ever assembled, with six legitimate title-fight-level bouts across the card.
Legacy & Impact
UFC 300 is the most celebrated event in UFC history. The Holloway 4:59 finish is the single moment that defines the night — a masterpiece of confidence, timing, and MMA artistry that has never been replicated. It elevated Max Holloway's legacy from 'great featherweight champion' to 'one of the greatest MMA fighters who ever lived' — a distinction made possible by a single punch with a single second remaining.
For Alex Pereira, the Hill KO was his most clinical title defense and the high-water mark of his light heavyweight reign. He defended twice more (Prochazka 2, Rountree) before losing the title to Ankalaev at UFC 313 in March 2025. For the UFC as a promotion, the 1.2 million PPV buys and $17.4 million gate confirmed that the promotion could still produce mega-event numbers without a McGregor or Rousey-level star — the depth of the talent roster alone was sufficient to drive historic buy rates.
FAQ
What exactly happened at 4:59 of round five?
With approximately three seconds left in round five, Holloway stood in the center of the cage and dropped his hands to his sides — a deliberate, calm invitation for Gaethje to hit him. Gaethje threw; Holloway parried; Holloway landed a clean right hand that dropped Gaethje at 4:59. The buzzer sounded immediately. Referee Herb Dean stopped the fight. The sequence — the hands-down taunt, the parry, the finishing punch, the buzzer, the stoppage — took approximately two seconds and produced the loudest post-fight crowd reaction in modern UFC history.
Is the Holloway KO actually the greatest moment in UFC history?
By community consensus in 2024-2025, yes. The combination of factors that made it extraordinary: round five of a hard fight, one second remaining, the fighter deliberately drops his hands and invites punishment, parries the punch, lands the finisher at the buzzer. Each individual element would be remarkable alone. Combined in sequence, no UFC moment matches it. The candidates for greatest UFC finish — Anderson Silva's front kick, Conor McGregor's 13-second KO of Aldo, Holloway himself at 4:59 — are the only comparable events.
How does UFC 300 compare to UFC 299?
UFC 300 drew approximately 1,200,000 PPV buys versus UFC 299 (650,000) five weeks earlier — nearly double. The jump reflects the 300th event branding, the unprecedented card depth, and the Holloway-Gaethje BMF belt co-main generating the kind of mainstream crossover interest that only Conor McGregor events had previously sustained.
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