Tag: Jamahal Hill

Jamahal Hill vs. Khalil Rountree headlines UFC’s debut in Azerbaijan

Jamahal Hill and Khalil Rountree have a new UFC main event date – and it’s a far cry from their original setting in Kansas City.

The UFC will touch down in Azerbaijan for the first time this summer, and its bringing a light heavyweight contender main event with it.

At UFC Fight Night on June 21 at Baku Crystal Hall in Baku, top 205-pound contenders [autotag]Jamahal Hill[/autotag] and [autotag]Khalil Rountree[/autotag] will meet in a five-round headliner, the promotion announced Friday.

Both fighters look to bounce back from TKO losses.

A former UFC light heavyweight champion, Hill (12-3 MMA, 6-3 UFC) never lost his title. He was forced to vacate after an Achilles injury in a celebrity basketball game, then returned and was knocked out by Alex Pereira in the UFC 300 headliner in April. He returned in January and was finished by Jiri Prochazka via TKO.

Rountree (13-6 MMA, 9-6 UFC) fought Pereira at UFC 307 in August as a sizeable underdog. Despite the odds, Rountree fought valiantly and had his moments against the champion. The fight was a grueling and violent affair. Rountree was finished in Round 4, but respect was heaped on him from every edge of the combat sports world for his performance.

The latest lineup for the card now includes:

  • Jamahal Hill vs. Khalil Rountree
  • Curtis Blaydes vs. Rizvan Kuniev
  • Ismail Naurdiev vs. JunYong Park
  • Hamdy Abdelwahab vs. Mohammed Usman

UFC London: Jamahal Hill doubts Jan Blachowicz will be able to bully Carlos Ulberg to the ground

Jamahal Hill doesn’t see Jan Blachowicz having too much success grappling Carlos Ulberg at UFC Fight Night 255.

[autotag]Jamahal Hill[/autotag] doesn’t see [autotag]Jan Blachowicz[/autotag] having too much success grappling [autotag]Carlos Ulberg[/autotag] at UFC Fight Night 255.

Former champion Blachowicz (29-10-1 MMA, 12-7-1 UFC) meets rising light heavyweight contender Ulberg (12-1 MMA, 7-1 UFC) in Saturday’s co-main event at The O2 (ESPN+).

Blachowicz used his wrestling to beat Ulberg’s City Kickboxing teammate Israel Adesanya at UFC 259, where he was able to land three takedowns en route to a unanimous decision win. However, Hill is confident that Ulberg’s takedown defense will hold up.

“I don’t think that Jan is just going to be able to just go in and bully Ulberg to the ground,” Hill said on his YouTube channel. “I believe he’s had a lot of work and he’s showed some good prestige as far as the ground goes. Plus, he’s more athletic, he’s younger, he’s got a lot more bounce in his legs.

“I believe that it’ll be hard to keep him down – if he can get him down. That’s how Blachowicz should try to approach it: Leg kicks, possibly try to get him to the ground, and work from the top position there. But Ulberg standing, his package is kind of wide open. Also, Ulberg body kicks – body kicks for both.”

Blachowicz will look to rebound after a split draw against current UFC light heavyweight champion Magomed Ankalaev, followed by a split decision loss to ex-champ Alex Pereira. Meanwhile, Ulberg is on a seven-fight winning streak, with five of those wins coming by finish.

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 255.

Jamahal Hill on one major adjustment Alex Pereira needs to make for Magomed Ankalaev rematch

Jamahal Hill advises Alex Pereira to focus on one particular thing if he wants to reclaim UFC gold.

[autotag]Jamahal Hill[/autotag] thinks [autotag]Alex Pereira[/autotag] needs to focus on one particular thing if he wants to reclaim UFC gold.

Pereira (12-3 MMA, 9-2 UFC) lost the light heavyweight title to [autotag]Magomed Ankalaev[/autotag] (21-1-1 MMA, 12-1-1 UFC) by unanimous decision in the UFC 313 main event earlier this month at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Although Pereira surprised many with his ability to stop all 12 of Ankalaev’s takedown attempts, he wound up getting outstruck on the feet. The pair are expected to have an immediate rematch after UFC CEO Dana White approved of the idea after the fight.

Hill, who predicted an Ankalaev win at UFC 313, thinks “Poatan” can’t be nearly as tentative with his offence if he wants to avenge his loss.

“I think he can, I think he’s very capable of making the adjustments that he needs to make to win that fight,” Hill told Home of Fight on Pereira. “He’s going to have to be locked into the gym to where he don’t get tired, he’s going to have to up his cardio a lot because his output is going to have to go up. His output with the kicks, adding more kicks and working a lot more of having a higher volume with kicks in this fight would get it done. But, we’ll see.”

It appears wheels are already in motion for a rematch, with Ankalaev already claiming that a date has been offered.

“I have a date and I accepted already, I hope my opponent will accept too. This time there will be no 5 rounds, I don’t get paid by the hour #BigANK.”

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Jamahal Hill vs. Khalil Rountree: Odds and what to know ahead of UFC Kansas City main event

The opening odds for Jamahal Hill vs. Khalil Rountree at UFC Kansas City are dead even.

Former title challengers [autotag]Jamahal Hill[/autotag] and [autotag]Khalil Rountree[/autotag] will throw down in a pivotal light heavyweight clash.

Jamahal Hill vs. Khalil Rountree preview

Former champion Hill (12-3 MMA, 6-3 UFC) will look to rebound after back-to-back knockout losses to then light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira at UFC 300, and most recently Jiri Prochazka at UFC 311.

In his most recent outing, Rountree (13-6 MMA, 9-6 UFC) fought Pereira for the title at UFC 307. Rountree put up a valiant effort as a big underdog, but ultimately fell short when he was finished by Round 4 TKO. Prior to that, Rountree was on a five-fight winning streak.

Jamahal Hill vs. Khalil Rountree odds

According to DraftKings, the odds for Hill and Rountree have opened up at -110 even.

How to watch Jamahal Hill vs. Khalil Rountree at UFC Kansas City

  • When: Saturday, April 26
  • Where: T-Mobile Center, Kansas City, Mo.
  • Broadcast/streaming: ESPN+

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night.

Jamahal Hill before UFC Kansas City headliner: Khalil Rountree comes to bang, but ‘he’s not ready’

Jamahal Hill is excited about the stylistic matchup he’s facing against Khalil Rountree.

[autotag]Jamahal Hill[/autotag] is excited about the stylistic matchup against [autotag]Khalil Rountree[/autotag].

Hill (12-3 MMA, 6-3 UFC) will look to rebound when he takes on Rountree (13-6 MMA, 9-6 UFC) in a UFC Fight Night main event April 26 from T-Mobile Center in Kansas City.

Rountree’s stock grew immensely when he put up a valiant effort in his title fight against Alex Pereira at UFC 307. He won the first two rounds but was eventually overwhelmed and stopped in Round 4.

“What I like about the matchup is that he’s a popular name right now,” Hill said on the “On Paper With Anthony Smith” podcast. “So, a lot of people are big on him. He’s put on some exciting fights, and he’s an exciting fighter. He comes to bang, and I just think that my skillset and what I do very, very well, are things he’s not ready for.

“The things that I do well, I don’t think he does them, as well as I do. I think my game is really, really, really wide open in this fight. …He’s explosive, he hits hard, he comes forward, and he believes in his abilities to finish. I believe those are all things I’ll be able to turn against him.”

Since winning the UFC light heavyweight title, Hill faced a string of bad luck. He was forced to vacate his belt after tearing his Achilles in a celebrity basketball game, then was knocked out by Alex Pereira in his return at UFC 300 in April. In his most recent outing, he was finished by Jiri Prochazka via TKO at UFC 311.

While regaining the title is on his mind, Hill just wants to enjoy the process.

“In this last fight, even though it went the way that it went, I had fun,” Hill said. “I really had fun in this fight, and I enjoyed the fight. I had a blast. I felt blessed to be in my position in that fight. I just got to keep enjoying it, try not to lose that joy again.

“Because with the injury, then how the fight went against Alex, with how things got interrupted and things like that. Then the whole bullsh*t online and all of that other stuff, you kind of get away from the true beauty and enjoyment of the sport, and what we do. And, I don’t want to lose that again.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night.

Jamahal Hill toots his own horn after Alex Pereira’s loss to Magomed Ankalaev

Jamahal Hill feels pretty good about his Alex Pereira vs. Magomed Ankalaev prediction after the fact.

[autotag]Jamahal Hill[/autotag] feels pretty good about his [autotag]Alex Pereira[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Magomed Ankalaev[/autotag] prediction after the fact.

Ankalaev (21-1-1 MMA, 12-1-1 UFC) defeated Pereira (12-3 MMA, 9-2 UFC) by unanimous decision to become light heavyweight champion in Saturday’s UFC 313 main event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Hill was one of the few fighters to pick Ankalaev to win.

Not only did Hill pick Ankalaev to win, but he saw him having success on the feet, which had many accusing him of being salty for getting knocked out by Pereira at UFC 300.

“I’m going to toot my own horn on this,” Hill said on his YouTube channel. “I did my breakdown. I felt like I did a really good breakdown, breaking down each side, gave my unbiased opinion of what I saw from everything – and it turned out to be right. Everybody called me a hater, said I was hating and all these other things, which is like crazy.”

Hill saw no controversy with the result. He scored it four rounds to one in favor of Ankalaev.

“I feel Magomed did enough to win,” Hill said. “Pereira had small moments. There was no real big moment. What moment was there where he actually landed his shot, and it had its effect? Whenever Magomed hit him on the couple of instances where he was able to time a counter and hit Pereira and knock him backwards. We didn’t see many of those. Plus Pereira wore the damage a little bit more on his face than Ankalaev did.”

Hill concluded by rubbishing the notion that he was rooting against Pereira.

“Like I was saying, I was right, ya’ll was wrong,” Hill said. “People have asked me if I’m happy Alex lost. No, I’m not happy that Alex lost. I mean, I didn’t really care one way or the other. Alex is a big star, he brings a lot of attention to our division, so we all gain something from him being the champion. It’s now Ankalaev’s turn to try and build that star before I get up there and put these things (knuckles) on him.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 313.

Jamahal Hill breaks down Alex Pereira vs. Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 313

Jamahal Hill predicts a new light heavyweight champion will be crowned at UFC 313.

[autotag]Jamahal Hill[/autotag] predicts a new light heavyweight champion will be crowned at UFC 313.

[autotag]Alex Pereira[/autotag] (12-2 MMA, 9-1 UFC) defends his title against [autotag]Magomed Ankalaev[/autotag] (20-1-1 MMA, 11-1-1 UFC) in Saturday’s main event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPNews/Disney+, ESPN+).

After going back-and-forth with Ankalaev on social media, Hill admits he doesn’t like him but respects him as a fighter. Most pundits have urged Ankalaev to wrestle, but Hill also sees his striking style posing problems for Pereira.

“Magomed’s striking is seriously being slept on here,” Hill said on his YouTube channel. “I don’t believe that Pereira sits back and wants to fight out of the pocket. He wants to put the pressure on him and land good, hard shots on the outside. The problem with that is? Magomed is a counter striker. If you look at his last few fights, he counters.

“He waits for you to throw, to overexert yourself, and even off of feints, if you feint and it puts your feet in the wrong spot, he’s countering you. He counters with combinations. They’re fast, and he mixes up his punches. So, he has a variety of strikes available at his disposal. There’s the fact that he’s a southpaw.”

Aggression is key?

While Hill thinks Pereira now has more experience fighting southpaws, it did take him a while to figure out Khalil Rountree before eventually stopping him in Round 4 at UFC 307. He advises “Poatan” to be aggressive.

“For Pereira, the low kicks are there,” Hill said. “He’s got good kicks all around. He would have to produce those in volume. … Alex is going to have produce a lot of volume in this fight to give Magomed problems. He can’t just big-shot him. He’s going to have to upset him with volume, and then those power shots he’s going to land are going to have to come as counters.

“He’s got to draw him out of his hole, draw him out of his shell, and then hit him with a big counter. Those low kicks, that body jab that he throws will be money. I believe he should work those until he’s able to draw Magomed out, then he’ll find some opportunities to land those big shots and that power. Knees to the body will be there, maybe a little bit of clinch work for whenever they do get into maybe some grappling exchanges.”

Hill’s prediction for Pereira vs. Ankalaev

Ultimately, Hill picked Ankalaev to dethrone his former foe.

“I’m going to go with Magomed. I feel he has more tools to win,” Hill said. “Obviously Alex has that one hit wonder. If he catches you, he can put you away, but I believe Magomed also has that. He has the speed, the patience to counter.

“He’s been in this position before. He already let the title slip out of his hands once before, and I believe he’ll be a lot more focused, locked in for this, and ultimately has more ways to win.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 313.

Alex Pereira took no satisfaction in Jamahal Hill’s UFC 311 loss

Alex Pereira claims he received no joy in watching rival Jamahal Hill suffer a loss at UFC 311.

MIAMI – [autotag]Alex Pereira[/autotag] says he received no joy in watching rival [autotag]Jamahal Hill[/autotag] suffer a loss at UFC 311.

Hill (12-3 MMA, 6-3 UFC), who’s experienced issues with Pereira since his first-round TKO defeat last April at UFC 300, was halted by third-round TKO against Jiri Prochazka at this past Saturday’s event at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif.

Pereira was cageside for the contest, and poked fun at both his former opponents, claiming he was watching his “kids” fight. Just weeks prior, too, Pereira and Hill got into a minor verbal confrontation at the UFC Performance Institute.

With the volume of talk that’s come from Hill over the past 10 months, it’s reasonable to think Pereira would take some satisfaction from what he witnessed at UFC 311. However, he said that’s far from the case.

“I have absolutely no problem with him,” Pereira told MMA Junkie through an interpreter. “We’re both the same. Sometimes I’ll go and make some fun before the fight. Or he will (say something about me). But tomorrow we’re going to hold hands and respect each other. I think all the turmoil that was created is part of the sport.”

Hill has made his desire to rematch Pereira very clear, but the result at UFC 311 was a significant setback as long as “Poatan” holds the belt. For Prochazka (31-5-1 MMA, 5-2 UFC), however, he put him back in the running for another crack at the champion, whom he lost to at UFC 295 in November 2023 and UFC 303 in July.

Pereira, who is set to return for his fourth title defense at UFC 313 on March 8 in Las Vegas vs. Magomed Ankalaev (20-1-1 MMA, 11-1-1 UFC), said he’s indifferent to the idea of a third encounter with Prochazka.

“He’s No. 2, but whatever he is, I’m here to fight,” Pereira said. “If he’s No. 2, No. 3, No. 4, No. 5, No. 6, I’m just here to fight anybody.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 313.

Digesting UFC 311 fallout: Jiri Prochazka knocks out Jamahal Hill, Payton Talbott’s first loss, more

What to make of the UFC 311 results outside the two title fights? We discuss Jiri Prochazka’s big win and more on “Spinning Back Clique.”

UFC 311 was the host of many important and key results for several of the UFC’s divisions.

From heavyweight to all the way down to 125 pounds, the first UFC pay-per-view of 2015 saw plenty of big moments. Former UFC light heavyweight champion [autotag]Jiri Prochazka[/autotag] knocked out [autotag]Jamahal Hill[/autotag] in brutal fashion, top heavyweight contender Jailton Almeida stopped [autotag]Sergei Spiva[/autotag] in the first round, highly-touted bantamweight prospect [autotag]Payton Talbott[/autotag] suffered his first professional defeat in a big upset, and much more.

So, what’s next for the winners and losers? How much did they advance or get set back with their respective results?

MMA Junkie’s Brian “Goze” Garcia, Mike Bohn, Danny Segura and host Gorgeous George discuss some of the key results of UFC 311 outside the main and co-main event championship bouts.

Watch their discussion in the video above, and don’t miss this week’s complete episode of “Spinning Back Clique” below on YouTube or in podcast form.

https://youtube.com/live/xkFxuHJDreg

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Overreaction Time: Islam Makhachev and Merab Dvalishvili in control? Jiri Prochazka is back? More!

Check out the latest episode of “Overreaction Time” on the fallout from UFC 311, Jon Jones’ negotiations with the UFC, and more.

The time for overreacting is here!

Check out the latest episode of “Overreaction Time” at noon ET/9 a.m. PT as host Simon Samano and MMA Junkie reporter Farah Hannoun debate these “overreactions” on the following topics in mixed martial arts:

  • Now is the PERFECT time for [autotag]Islam Makhachev[/autotag] to leave the UFC lightweight division.
  • [autotag]Merab Dvalishvili[/autotag] is primed to remain UFC bantamweight champion for all of 2025.
  • [autotag]Jiri Prochazka[/autotag] has new life as a UFC title contender, but it’s over for [autotag]Jamahal Hill[/autotag].
  • If the UFC signs only one of these guys, it should be [autotag]Aaron Pico[/autotag] over [autotag]Patricio Freire[/autotag].
  • There’s no way the UFC pays [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag] $30 million to fight Tom Aspinall.
  • [autotag]Mackenzie Dern[/autotag]’s chances of being UFC champion are still alive.

Watch the full episode in the video above.