5 biggest storylines ahead of UFC 300

UFC 300 is finally upon us.

Headlining one of the most stacked events in MMA history Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira defends his title for the first time against former champion Jamahal Hill. And in the co-main event, Zhang Weili puts the strawweight belt on the line against Yan Xiaonan.

From top to bottom, there are a record 11 current or former UFC undisputed champions on the card (12 if you count ex-interim champ Justin Gaethje). That means there are plenty of storylines to follow. We'd be here all day if we went through them all, so we're narrowing it down to the five biggest ahead of the centennial event.

Is Hill as good as he looked in last year's title win?

It can't be understated how big of a moment this is for Hill.

Hill was the UFC light heavyweight champion this time last year, less than three months removed from a lopsided decision win over Glover Teixeira to win the vacant title. But that opportunity only came as a chain reaction to a bunch of other fighters' bad luck. Jiri Prochazka relinquished the belt after suffering a severe injury, and then the fight that was supposed to crown a new champion ended in a draw. All of that happened before the UFC finally turned to Hill, ranked No. 7 in the division at the time.

Hill dramatically upped his game against Teixeira, crushing the former champ on the feet in a fight that probably could've been stopped before the final horn. It was the most impressive performance we've seen from Hill by a mile, and fairly successful in convincing fans that he was at least one of the top three light heavyweights in the world. That said, Teixeira was 43 years old, on the verge of retirement, and a grappler. Pereira, on the other hand, is a whole different beast.

There's a good chance Hill is indeed as good as he looked in the Teixeira fight and is equipped for a second - and longer - reign as the 205-pound king. But it's also not out of the question that Hill was in the right place at the right time when he got the call to fight Teixeira and then beat up the Brazilian legend in enemy territory. Hill's fight with Pereira will tell us a lot, and that's what makes it so fascinating.

Where do Gaethje-Holloway, Oliveira-Tsarukyan fit into the lightweight title picture?

The lightweight division is at center stage at UFC 300, but what it all means is a little less clear.

In what's arguably the people's main event (and theScore's top-ranked fight on the card), Gaethje will become the first person to defend the mythical BMF title against former featherweight champion Max Holloway, who's moving up in weight for the fight. Plus, Charles Oliveira will try to hold onto his No. 1 spot in the division against the surging Arman Tsarukyan, whom many believe is the future of 155 pounds.

That's three of the top four lightweights all on the same card, and yet none of these fights are for the undisputed belt held by Islam Makhachev - a good example of the UFC prioritizing the short term over the long term with its matchmaking. Makhachev has been hounding the UFC for months to get him back in the Octagon - specifically in June - but nothing is currently set. It seems likely Dana White and Co. are waiting to see how these UFC 300 matchups play out before deciding what's next for Makhachev. But will the winner of either fight even have a chance of being next in line?

Gaethje has already said he wouldn't be willing to make a two-month turnaround to fight Makhachev in June, and the UFC certainly can't expect that from Holloway, Oliveira, or Tsarukyan, either. The winner of both fights will undoubtedly be in a great spot in the division, but the next title shot is Dustin Poirier's to lose barring a surprisingly early finish.

Will Sterling immediately become a top featherweight contender?

Former UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling makes his long-awaited featherweight debut on the undercard - yep, that's how deep UFC 300 is. Very few people are talking about this, but a win over Calvin Kattar could punch his ticket to a title shot.

Sure, one victory - against a division's No. 8-ranked fighter who's lost to multiple people above him - doesn't always demand a title shot. Far from it. But think about this particular situation. Alexander Volkanovski is out for a while after Ilia Topuria knocked him out to capture the featherweight title at UFC 298 in February. Holloway is fighting Gaethje this weekend and could be in contention at lightweight instead. Movsar Evloev still needs another win. Brian Ortega is probably the best candidate, but no one is really clamoring to see him challenge Topuria.

If Sterling goes out there and does "Funk Master" things against Kattar, he'll immediately be in the conversation. And with a bit of luck and good timing, he might even find himself looking to become a champion in a second division next time out.

Can Harrison save the women's bantamweight division?

Things have been bleak in the women's bantamweight division ever since Amanda Nunes retired last June. We wrote about the current landscape at 135 pounds after Raquel Pennington captured the vacant title in January and don't need to rehash it.

Suffice to say, Kayla Harrison is making her UFC debut at the right time.

A former two-time PFL champion, Harrison left that promotion to sign with the UFC in January and will face former women's bantamweight champ Holly Holm this weekend. If Harrison wins, it'd be silly not to put her in a title fight against Pennington right away. You might as well try to kick off the Kayla Harrison era as soon as possible because Pennington isn't selling any pay-per-views.

Harrison's presence - as long as she keeps winning - would revitalize the division in a big way. She'd be the most interesting name in the weight class. Although Harrison didn't become a mainstream star under the PFL banner, that's absolutely achievable with the UFC marketing machine backing her.

The women's bantamweight division, without a doubt, needs Harrison.

Will UFC 300 be a commercial success?

One of the biggest talking points in the months leading up to UFC 300 was whether the lineup would live up to Dana White's expectations.

Spoiler: it has. Two title fights, a BMF title bout, a slew of former champs, and an incredibly deep preliminary card are more than enough for UFC 300 to be one of the best cards the promotion has put together in 31 years.

But that doesn't mean it'll be a blockbuster at the box office.

To be clear, UFC 300 will still sell a lot of pay-per-views compared to the average event, but it won't come close to topping Khabib Nurmagomedov versus Conor McGregor. Pereira, Hill, Zhang, Gaethje, Holloway, and Oliveira are all elite fighters, but we're not talking about McGregor, Ronda Rousey, and Brock Lesnar here. No one on the UFC 300 card is an A-list star, a reliable pay-per-view draw who's headlined a bunch of paid events.

UFC 300's round number sells itself to a degree, but not enough for the folks at Endeavor to be pleasantly surprised when the pay-per-view numbers come in next week.