Dana White finally announced the main event for UFC 300 on April 13. The UFC boss revealed in a video prior to UFC 298 that light heavyweight and former middleweight champion Alex Pereira will face former light heavyweight champion Jamahal Hill at the top of the anniversary card.

This, of course, totally contradicts the earlier reporting of veteran MMA journalist Ariel Helwani, who had reported that a potential Khamzat Chimaev vs. Leon Edwards bout was the “top choice” for UFC 300. After the announcement, the Canadian came out and gave an explanation about why his reporting had been wrong, along with making a huge, eyebrow-raising claim about why Chimaev was not booked, contradicting what Chimaev himself had claimed.

Helwani claims Ukraine war fallout behind Khamzat Chimaev’s absence at UFC 300

Ariel Helwani said that while Khamzat Chimaev was indeed the top choice for UFC 300, he claimed that this was because ‘Borz’ could not get into the United States. There have been unconfirmed reports that Chimaev, a native of Chechnya, holds a Russian passport, and because of the current war in Ukraine, there are restrictions on Russian passport holders traveling to the US. The journalist felt this was unsustainable and would affect Chimaev’s chances of becoming champion.

“Top choice [for UFC 300] was Khamzat, can’t get in the country. I don’t know how they fix this. I don’t know how you give Khamzat a title shot because he can very likely win that, knowing he can’t get in the country. How can you have a champion who can’t fight in the United States, can’t fight in Vegas can’t fight in California, can’t fight in New York,” Helwani said.

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Helwani said that if Chimaev did not have these issues, he would have faced Leon Edwards for the welterweight title at UFC 300. “You got to fix that first that’s going to hold him back. We don’t even know why why can’t he come into the country. But it’s a problem because if it wasn’t a problem if it wasn’t a thing, I think that would be on 300,” the Canadian journalist told viewers.

“Leon said yes he was ready to go. Credit to him. Remember he was in Aston Villa December 31st telling everyone 300,” Helwani added. However, Chimaev’s recent statements stand in stark contrast to Helwani’s reporting.

Chimaev to sit out UFC 300 due to Ramadan

Khamzat Chimaev has contradicted this version of events and had said in an interview earlier this week that he didn’t want a booking at the card as UFC 300 will fall a few days after the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which requires the faithful to not consume any food or water until sundown.

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Fans will remember that former lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, too, refused to fight during or immediately after Ramadan in his stint at the UFC. And Chimaev, who fought Gilbert Burns right after Ramadan in 2022, seems not to have relished the experience and like Nurmagomedov, will not be fighting during or near Ramadan.

This year, Ramadan will begin on March 10 and end on April 8, right at the beginning of UFC 300 fight week. However, Chimaev did not mention anything about being prevented from being able to enter the US, but he hasn’t denied (or indeed been asked) about a potential US entry ban either.

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