Athletes
Jamahal Hill Is Eager To Get Back To Dominant Ways
Former Light Heavyweight Champ Envisions A Vintage Performance Against A Long-Awaited Opponent At UFC 311: Makhachev vs Moicano
Jamahal Hill doesn’t have a lot to say as he approaches his fight with Jiří Procházka.
“I'm just ready to get in there,” Hill told UFC.com. “Ready to fight.”
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The former light heavyweight champion doesn’t even have many words when asked to reflect on 2024, a year in which his bid to regain the light heavyweight title fell short and an injury prevented him from bouncing back quickly.
Granted, Hill was already coming off a major injury. His torn Achilles in the summer of 2023 was part of a three-year stretch in which the light heavyweight title wasn’t successfully defended once. Alex Pereira emphatically halted that carousel at Hill’s expense to cap off UFC 300, but the ever-confident “Sweet Dreams” is quick to point out the positives to come out of last year.
“2024 went great for me,” he said. “I made a lot of money.”
Even so, it’s hard to think back to the masterpiece Hill painted in Brazil when he bested Glover Teixeira for the vacant belt at UFC 283 and imagine the following two years would go by without a signature Hill knockout. The Dana White’s Contender Series alumnus made history that night as the first graduate of the show to capture UFC gold and, at the time, he was a bit of a feel-good story.
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While Hill came into the promotion undefeated, he was still considered a prospect with some rough edges to smooth out, but a second-round knockout of Ovince Saint Preux suggested Hill was ready for more, sooner than anticipated. Even when his first professional loss halted his momentum—a brutal defeat to Paul Craig—he simply responded with one showstopping knockout after another. Consecutive, bonus-earning finishes of Jimmy Crute, Johnny Walker and Thiago Santos put him in the title conversation, and after Jan Błachowicz and Magomed Ankalaev fought to a draw in their title fight, Hill jumped at the short-notice chance at gold.
Fast-forward a couple years, and the division looks familiar, but distinct. “Poatan” reigns supreme after a Fighter of the Year caliber 2024 in which he defended the throne thrice, racking up three knockouts along the way. Newer faces like Carlos Ulberg and Khalil Rountree Jr. put themselves in the mix in the last 18 months or so, but ultimately, Hill remains entrenched in the title picture right now.
Jamahal Hill | Top Finishes
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Jamahal Hill | Top Finishes
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“I think (the division) is in a good, good place as far as the top,” Hill said. “We got some new guys coming in that's trying to make their bones and things like that. I think the light heavyweight division is in a good spot.
“We got a superstar as a champion right now, and I plan on knocking them the f*** out.”
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Before Hill gets a chance at redemption against Pereira, he has the tall, difficult task of Jiří Procházka in front of him, an opponent he has had his eyes on for years.
When UFC.com visited Hill at his gym in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and asked him to give his thoughts on some of the top 205ers, his answer about Procházka stood out:
“Exciting, flows well, comes to bang. Superstar—can be that caliber fighter. Somebody I absolutely have to share the cage with. This has to happen. This has to happen, and I’m telling you this, bro, because when it does happen, it’s going to be one of the best fights people have ever seen.”
UFC 311 Full Fight Card Preview
Now, with the coveted matchup just days away, Hill believes he and his fellow former champion are “at the top” of their respective games.
That said, and as you’d expect him to think, Hill feels as though he is primed for a dominant outing on January 18 at UFC 311: Makhachev vs Tsarukyan 2.
“I think the thing that excites me the most about Jiri is how he comes to fight,” Hill said. “He comes to fight. He comes to put on a show. He tries a lot of crazy things, wild, explosive things. And I'm ready to test myself against that so I can pass this test and move on.”
With the light heavyweight belt rumored to go back up for grabs in the first half of 2025, Hill has a grand opportunity to put himself in pole position for the next title shot.
First comes the business at hand: getting a win, getting back on track, and ideally, doing so in the usual spectacular fashion you’d expect from the Touch ‘Em Up University alumnus.
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“I've got to come out and be who I usually am, which is dominant,” Hill said. “As always, perform to a level that I know I'm capable of and have performed up to this point, and we’ll get back to where we want to be.”
UFC 311: Makhachev vs Moicano took place live from Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California on January 18, 2025. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC FIGHT PASS!