Rivalries: Jamahal Hill

Jamahal Hill could view this as the start of a reclamation project.

The former Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight titleholder will touch off his 2025 campaign when he meets Jiri Prochazka in a UFC 311 showcase on Saturday at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles. Hill has compiled a 6-2 record with one no contest across his nine appearances inside the Octagon. The Chicago native has delivered four of those six wins by knockout or technical knockout, having victimized Ovince St. Preux, Jimmy Crute, Johnny Walker and Thiago Santos.

As Hill approaches his forthcoming showdown with Prochazka at 205 pounds, a look at a few of the rivalries that have helped shape his career to this point:

Alexander Poppeck

Hill secured a UFC contract when he disposed of the Munich Top Team brute with punches and elbows in the second round of their light heavyweight tilt during Season 3 of Dana White’s Contender Series on July 23, 2019 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Poppeck succumbed to blows 4:29 into Round 2. Hill did much of his damage at close range, burying repeated knee strikes into the German’s midsection. He hit his stride in the second round, where he let fly with combinations and continued to zero in on the body devastating knees. Poppeck’s condition soon went from desperate to downright dire. Hill assumed top position on a failed takedown, moved to mount and prompted the stoppage with unanswered punches and elbows.

Paul Craig

The former British Association of Mixed Martial Arts champion interrupted Hill’s rise in the 205-pound weight class division when he stopped him with elbows and punches in the first round of their featured UFC 263 attraction on June 12, 2021. Craig drew the curtain 1:59 into Round 1. The Scottish grappler pulled guard against Hill and quickly transitioned to an armbar. Though his first attempt was unsuccessful “Bearjew” was undeterred. He secured on overhook, locked down the maneuver a second time and bent Hill’s arm behind its bounds. From there, Craig unloaded with elbows and punches on his now-compromised counterpart until the stoppage was called.

Glover Teixeira

Hill captured the vacant Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight title when he punished the battle-hardened veteran to a clear-cut unanimous decision in the UFC 283 headliner on Jan. 21, 2023 at Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro. All three cageside judges scored it 50-44. Teixeira absorbed a horrific amount of punishment. Hill shredded the Brazilian’s face with punches, elbows and knees, opening cuts near both eyes and spilling blood all over the Octagon. He scrambled Teixeira’s circuits with head kicks on more than one occasion, switched stances to great effect and kept the John Hackleman protégé at bay with a potent jab. Hill nearly finished it in the third round and again in the fourth, but his counterpart refused to go away under the worst of circumstances. Teixeira offered a brief glimmer of hope for his supporters early in Round 5, where he executed a takedown and climbed to full mount. However, Hill escaped through back door and relied on his jab, superior athleticism and lateral movement to avoid any further issues. Afterward, Teixeira announced his retirement from mixed martial arts.

Alex Pereira

“Poatan” punched out Hill to retain his undisputed light heavyweight crown in the first round of their UFC 300 main event on April 13, 2024 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Pereira tagged the former titleholder’s figurative toe 3:14 into Round 1. Hill answered leg kicks from the Brazilian with a few of his own but provided the champion with no real cause for concern. Pereira stalked forward behind stabbing jabs to the body, bided his time and marked his territory with a cold stoicism. He calmly brushed aside referee Herb Dean after absorbing an accidental kick to the groin, decked Hill with a left hook mere seconds later and then pounced with punches and hammerfists to cap a near-flawless performance.