UFC 300 results, highlights: Alex Pereira viciously knocks out Jamahal Hill to retain light heavyweight title (2024)

Not since Jon Jones has a light heavyweight looked so dominant

Alex Pereira's "Poatan" nickname translates to "stone hands" but his stone-cold demeanor is most terrifying. Pereira, unbothered by the power Jamahal Hill possessed, knocked out the challenger in one round to cap off an all-time memorable UFC 300 card on Saturday.

The UFC light heavyweight division has struggled with consistency since Jon Jones vacated the title in August 2020. Multiple vacancies and a boring draw prevented the weight class from moving forward. After knocking out Hill and Jiri Prochazka successively, Pereira is poised to carry the division into the future.

The finishing sequence will be fondly remembered. Referee Herb Dean called for a time-out after Hill kicked Pereira in the groin. Pereira -- without ever taking his eyes off his prey -- nudged the referee back with his hand. Moments later, the laser-focused champion landed a left uppercut that rolled Hill's eyes back. Pereira measured his distance and reigned down ground and pound to render Hill unconscious. Pereira's second light heavyweight title fight was also the second faster stoppage of his mixed martial arts career, topped only by a 2022 KO of Sean Strickland at middleweight.

Pereira vs. Hill was originally targeted for UFC 301 in the champion's home nation of Brazil. Pereira doubled down on his desire to make the quick turnaround to fight again on the May 4 pay-per-view in Rio de Janeiro. Interestingly, Pereira said he wanted the short-notice fight to take place at heavyweight.

"I want to keep defending this belt," Pereira said through an interpreter during his post-fight interview at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. "I talked a lot about fighting in Brazil. I won this fight. I'm not hurt. Nothing happened. I know there needs to be a lot of promotion behind a fight, but I want to fight at heavyweight."

Multiple story threads were at play on Saturday night. Pereira, despite rejecting the narrative, completed a revenge arch in the name of his mentor Glover Teixeira. Hill and Prochazka defeated Teixeira in consecutive UFC title fights leading to his retirement. Pereira's first two light heavyweight title fights ended in KO victories over the same two men who beat his close friend. There was also a matter of lineage. Prochazka and Hill had claims to the championship after vacating it due to injury. By defeating both men back-to-back, Pereira crushed any doubt about being the best light heavyweight in the promotion.

Pereira's quick success in MMA is remarkable. He won UFC titles in two weight classes by his 11th professional fight and has defeated five UFC champions in Octagon appearances. A uniquely decorated striker, Pereira is the only man to win multiple weight class titles in both Glory kickboxing and UFC.

Plus, women's strawweight champion Zhang Weili retained her title with a decision over Yan Xiaonan. That fight saw some dramatic swings as Zhang appeared to finish Yan twice in the first two rounds only for Yan to rally in the middle rounds and give the champ all she could handle.

But the highlight of the night had to be Max Holloway. "Blessed" battered former lightweight title challenger Justin Gaethje over five rounds before delivering a brutal knockout that left Gaethje out cold with one second left on the clock. The former featherweight king hopes to get a shot at either the featherweight or lightweight titles next.

After UFC CEO Dana White promised to bump up the performance bonuses from $50,000 to $300,000 at Thursday's press conference, fighters went all out to capture the extra money. Holloway did just that as he earned both Performance of the Night and shared Fight of the Night with Gaethje. The other Performance of the Night award went to Jiri Prochazka for his rally to TKO Aleksandr Rakic on the prelims.

CBS Sports was with you the entire way on Saturday bringing you all the results and highlights from the UFC 300 below.

UFC 300 card, results

• Alex Pereira (c) def. Jamahal Hill via first-round knockout (punch)
• Zhang Weili (c) def. Yan Xiaonan via unanimous decision (49-45, 49-45, 49-45)
  
• Max Holloway def. Justin Gaethje via fifth-round knockout (punch)
• Arman Tsarukyan def. Charles Oliveira via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
  
• Bo Nickal def. Cody Brundage via second-round submission (rear-naked choke)
• Jiri Prochazka def. Aleksandar Rakic via second-round TKO (punches)
• Aljamain Sterling def. Calvin Kattar via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Kayla Harrison def. Holly Holm via second-round submission (rear-naked choke)
• Diego Lopes def. Sodiq Yusuff via first-round TKO (punches)
• Renato Moicano def. Jalin Turner via second-round TKO (punches)
  
• Jessica Andrade def. Marina Rodriguez via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Bobby Green def. Jim Miller via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-25, 29-26)
• Deiveson Figueiredo def. Cody Garbrandt via second-round submission (rear-naked choke)