Jamahal Hill suffered one of the more humbling and memorable KO losses in recent UFC history, but he isn’t letting the defeat keep him down.
Less than a week after Alex Pereira destroyed Hill in the first round of the UFC 300 main event, the former champion has already shared plans for his next fight.
Hill took to X to let fans in on his intentions.
Just over 24 hours after losing to Pereira, Hill was captured on video dancing with friends/supporters. Hill reposted the X post containing the video. He captioned the repost, “Still winning the Life game!!!”
Jiri Prochazka is a potential opponent for Hill. Sweet Dreams called Prozchazka out in his first post immediately after the KO loss.
Pereira also stopped Prochazka in a battle for the then-vacant light heavyweight title. A matchup between Hill and Prochazka would be a battle between the last two fighters Pereira has faced and defeated.
Prochazka has risen to the No. 1 contender spot at 205 pounds in the latest UFC rankings. Considering Hill’s and his recent loss to Pereira, it doesn’t make sense for either to get another shot at the championship this year.
Instead, the No. 2 light heavyweight in the world, Magomed Ankalaev, is the next sensible challenger to Pereira. It’s unclear when Pereira will be ready to return to the Octagon as he is recovering from two broken toes.
Ankalaev may elect to wait for Pereira to heal rather than risk his standing against someone ranked beneath him.
If Hill and Prochazka fight sometime this summer, as early as International Fight Week on the June 29 card headlined by the return of Conor McGregor, the winner would likely be in a position to challenge Pereira again.
Does Hill or Prochazka have a realistic chance of defeating Pereira?
Anything can happen in combat sports, but based on what we saw in both fights, neither man matches up well with Poatan.
Pereira came into his fight with Hill with a broken toe. He absorbed a kick to the cup without breaking a stride or appealing to referee Herb Dean for a break. Ten seconds later, he’d flattened Hill with a left hook and scored the KO victory.
Hill may be more focused and prepared, but it seems like Pereira may have his number from a stylistic standpoint. Still, Hill has proven to be a warrior already.
He fought back from a torn Achilles to return to the Octagon a little before most thought he’d be ready to come back. Hill has also bounced back from the humbling loss he suffered at UFC 300 and is on the hunt for another tough fight with a dangerous light heavyweight.
That’s admirable resilience, and he should be competing on a main card or perhaps at another main event soon.
