A massive UFC 300 will undoubtedly leave its mark, just as combat sports has left its competitors

LAS VEGAS — The story of Thursday’s UFC 300 pre-fight press conference was a tale of noses and ears. Which stands to reason. What else would you expect when you gather so many successful fighters, all at different stages of their careers, in one place for one special event?

Former featherweight champion Max Holloway, whose nose seems to grow bigger and wider with each passing year, marking his passage through the sport like tree rings. His opponent, Justin Gaethje, whose own dented beak gives his voice the sound of a permanent cold every time he speaks.

And then there were Arman Tsarukyan’s mutilated ears (and nose). And college wrestler Bo Nickal, whose ears stick out from his head like mug handles, both a warning sign and a stark indication of what he plans to do when the cage door closes on Saturday night. And Renato Moicano’s nose, slowly spreading across his face like a conquering army taking over.

Seeing them all on stage at the press conference was a good reminder that no one gets through this sport unscathed. And yet, with the biggest UFC event of the year coming up, they still did their best to put a nice shine on bodies and faces that have paid the price of participation many times over.

While the UFC 300 lineup was criticized by disappointed fans and media when it was finalized, seeing the full breadth of fighting art and experience gathered in one place served to underscore the magnitude of the event. When former champions are fighting in the night’s first heat, you know it’s going to be a big match.

Even the main event, which didn’t quite live up to UFC president Dana White’s promise of a truly “crazy” match, still generated some excitement as the fighters took the stage.

Former light heavyweight champion Jamahal Hill emerged Saturday night with a battered and bloodied miniature head of Easter Island, which he held up to Alex Pereira as a promise of things to come.

“I just want to get acquainted with the footage that I’m going to see on Saturday night,” Hill said, as fans in attendance booed.

This was the only moment during the day when reigning champion Pereira did not have to wait for the translation into Portuguese before speaking. He did not even have to wait to be asked for an answer.

“I’m going to make him remember this moment, when I was in my walkout, about to go to the Octagon, and my music was playing,” Pereira said through an interpreter. “I’m going to make him remember this moment.”

And with that, the fuse was lit in the main event of UFC 300. Hill fired back, addressing Pereira for the first time and inviting the champion to “write it down, take a picture, I don’t give a damn.”

“If you get in there with me, there’s nothing to talk about,” Hill continued. “There’s nothing to say. It’s all here, and I’m right on your tail.”

Nothing gets a press conference audience going like two men promising to hurt each other in memorable ways. This is especially true when many of the people in that audience have also paid large sums of money for tickets to see those men perform that Saturday.

The line to get into this event wrapped around the MGM Grand Casino on Thursday afternoon — and that was just to hear people talk about the fights to come. To wait there, you had to weave through parts of the casino that smelled of spray-on perfume, then through parts that smelled of cigarette smoke, past the food court with its welter of fried aromas, and into an arena where all you had to do was pour your overpriced margarita into the plastic cups. And yet no one in the line seemed to question whether it was all worth it.

What you’ll really appreciate about a battle card like this is how known every fighter on the card. No hangers-on or lesser-knowns. Not at UFC 300. Fans of the sport, they know the story and the stakes for every fight on this card. The mere mention of a fighter’s name during the press conference made it clear what the crowd thought of that person. (“Ask here for Charles Oliveira…” was met with huge cheers every time, while questions for his opponent, Tsarukyan, were nearly drowned out by the boos that followed the mention of his name.)

There was also a sense of scope in the room with us. Jim Miller, who fought at UFC 100, UFC 200 and UFC 300, served as a living reminder of the long road to this point. Moicano couldn’t help but celebrate the fact that he had watched those first two centennial events on the couch and would now be a part of UFC 300 history.

Moments like this, when the moment is big enough that the fighters themselves seem like fans, don’t come around very often. But then again, neither do events like this. And anyone who lived through the thrills and agonies of the first 299 knows that the next century won’t come without exacting the price from everyone who got us there.