Tag: Jamahal Hill

UFC on ESPN 40 free fight: Jamahal Hill turns out Johnny Walker’s lights in Round 1

Ahead of his main event clash with Thiago Santos, relive Jamahal Hill’s finish of Johnny Walker at UFC Fight Night 201.

[autotag]Jamahal Hill[/autotag] continued to show off his power when he squared off with Johnny Walker.

In his first UFC headliner, Hill faced Walker in the main event of UFC Fight Night 201 in February and lived up to his “Sweet Dreams” nickname with a standout showing.

Walker opened up with a front kick to the body and a leg kick after he was advised by his corner to stay long. Both men exchanged high kicks, and a spinning attack by Walker lead to a heated exchange in the pocket.

But Hill continued to stalk Walker and a little more than three minutes into Round 1, he starched the Brazilian with an overhand right. Walker fell down with a slight delayed reaction, but was out cold once he crashed to the canvas.

Hill (10-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC) returns to action Saturday when he takes on former title challenger [autotag]Thiago Santos[/autotag] (22-10 MMA, 14-9 UFC) in the UFC on ESPN 40 main event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The card airs on ESPN and streams on ESPN+.

Before he faces Santos, relive Hill’s finish of Walker in the video above.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 40.

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Glover Teixeira challenges Jiri Prochazka to rematch after UFC 275; four others also take aim

Five top contenders took aim at the new light heavyweight champion immediately after UFC 275.

[autotag]Jiri Prochazka[/autotag] wasn’t even UFC light heavyweight champion for an hour before the callouts rolled in Saturday.

Among the social media posts directed at the newly crowned champion was [autotag]Glover Teixeira[/autotag], the man he just submitted in the UFC 275 main event.

“Rematch??” Teixeira wrote in a tweet that included tags of Prochazka, Dana White and the UFC.

Prochazka and Teixeira competed in a highly entertaining, back-and-forth brawl with momentum shifts aplenty. Two of the three judges had Teixeira up on the scorecards entering the final round. In that Round 5, Teixeira found success on the feet before he was submitted with 28 seconds remaining. After the fight, Teixeira, 42, told commentator Daniel Cormier he’s not done yet.

Other contenders came out of the woodwork, as well. Streaking contender [autotag]Magomed Ankalaev[/autotag] and [autotag]Anthony Smith[/autotag] are set to square off July 30 at UFC 277. UFC president Dana White previously indicated to Barstool Sports the winner will likely be the next title challenger.

Also waiting in the wings is former UFC light heavyweight champion [autotag]Jan Blachowicz[/autotag] and fellow contender [autotag]Jamahal Hill[/autotag]. Blachowicz recently defeated Aleksandar Rakic by TKO due to injury. Hill rides a two-fight winning streak into an Aug. 6 main event against Thiago Santos.

Check out the tweets and callouts from the upper echelon of the UFC light heavyweight division below.

Jamahal Hill believes his fight IQ separates him from ‘every champion there’s ever been’

UFC light heavyweight contender Jamaha Hill believes he has something that separates him from anyone that’s ever won the title.

UFC light heavyweight contender [autotag]Jamahal Hill[/autotag] has rapidly climbed the ladder, but he isn’t surprised at his success.

With back-to-back first-round finishes of tough competition in his pocket, Hill (10-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC) is preparing to enter his second-straight main event bout. Standing across from him will be a former UFC title challenger in Thiago Santos (22-10 MMA, 14-9 UFC)  at an upcoming UFC Fight Night event on Aug. 6. It will be the seventh walk to the UFC cage for the Dana White’s Contender Series veteran, who always knew his skills would lead to accomplishing big things.

“That’s the difference, is I’ve been this good,” Hill told MMA Junkie Radio. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m evolving. My evolution comes from the understanding and knowledge of fighting, in the fight, what I can do, and things like that. But as far as these abilities, I’ve always had them.

“The main thing that I feel is my best asset in the fight is my IQ, my mind,” Hill said. “I have a very good awareness of what’s happening in the fight, where I am, where I stand, just situational awareness. Things like that.”

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Being able to close a fight in the blink of an eye with vicious knockout power sure helps, but combined with a smart approach can produce incredible results. That knowledge is something that Hill believes keeps him separated from his peers, past or present.

“That is what I feel like separates me from every champion there’s ever been,” Hill said. “Not just recent and things like that, just all of them, period. Not only that, I have some good physical gifts myself. I’m not small. Regardless of somehow this narrative’s been built that I’m small just because I’m not big and bulky, I can throw as long as I need to, and you don’t want to feel these things – and they’re fast.

“There’s nobody in this division that’s faster than me. Period. Hands down. Pick someone, find ’em. I dare ’em to test it.”

Check out the full interview with Hill in the video above.

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UFC books Thiago Santos vs. Jamahal Hill for Aug. 6 headliner

Light heavyweights are slated to headline the UFC’s first event of August.

A light heavyweight bout is scheduled for a UFC headliner Aug. 6.

Contenders [autotag]Jamahal Hill[/autotag] (10-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC) and [autotag]Thiago Santos[/autotag] (22-10 MMA, 14-9 UFC) will go toe-to-toe in a five-round bout atop the UFC Fight Night event scheduled for that date, at a location and venue to-be-announced.

Two people with knowledge of the matchup recently informed MMA Junkie of the booking but asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.

Hill is coming off arguably the best win of his career in his first UFC headliner when he flattened Johnny Walker with a violent right hand. The win put his streak at two, joining a 48-second knockout win over Jimmy Crute in December. His only career win came via TKO due to injury against Paul Craig in June 2021.

As for Santos, a former UFC title challenger, he’ll look to bounce back from a unanimous decision loss to Magomed Ankalaev in March. The defeat was his fourth in five fights. The lone win in that stretch was a unanimous decision over the aforementioned Walker in October. Despite his recent struggles to win, Santos has continued to prove to be a tough outing for any of his fellow contenders.

No other fights have been announced for the event at this time.

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Finishes of Magomed Ankalaev, Jamahal Hill give Paul Craig confidence heading into UFC London

Paul Craig’s wins over Magomed Ankalaev and Jamahal Hill have aged very well.

LONDON – [autotag]Paul Craig[/autotag]’s wins over [autotag]Magomed Ankalaev[/autotag] and [autotag]Jamahal Hill[/autotag] have aged very well.

Craig (15-4-1 MMA, 7-4-1 UFC) scored Performance of the Night finishes of both Ankalaev and Hill, who haven’t lost since and are both ranked higher than him in the UFC light heavyweight standings.

Unbeaten in his past five fights, Craig will look to keep rolling when he faces fellow finisher Nikita Krylov (27-8 MMA, 8-6 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 204 at O2 Arena, and he’s brimming with confidence knowing that he’s finished some of the division’s top contenders.

“Definitely,” Craig told reporters at Wednesday’s UFC London media day. “One of the things that you always do is compare yourself to other guys in the division, and you want to know that you fit there because that’s what it’s about. It’s about, ‘Am I good enough to be in that top 10?’ Seeing what Jamahal Hill has done in his last two fights gives me confidence, and seeing what Ankalaev is doing to the top prospects in the top 10, so it’s just filling me with hope.”

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Craig didn’t have the best start to his UFC career. Prior to his comeback finish of Ankalaev in March 2018, the 34-year-old Scottish fighter was on the receiving end of back-to-back knockout losses to Tyson Pedro and Khalil Rountree, which he admits had him doubting himself.

“Many times I remember lying awake at night feeling like I don’t deserve to be in the UFC,” Craig recalled. “I felt like a fraud and let’s be honest, I was a fraud. I got beat by two high-level guys, but I was a fraud. I shouldn’t have been there, and it made me work harder. It made me a better person.”

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Jamahal Hill goes off on fans mocking Johnny Walker after UFC Fight Night 201: ‘That sh*t ain’t cool’

Jamahal Hill doesn’t appreciate what he’s seen from fans following his knockout of Johnny Walker and is urging them to stop.

[autotag]Jamahal Hill[/autotag] doesn’t appreciate what he’s seen from fans following his win over [autotag]Johnny Walker[/autotag] and is urging them to knock it off.

Hill (10-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC) scored a first-round knockout of Walker in this past Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 201 headliner where Walker had a delayed reaction to a right hand before awkwardly falling backward and crashing to the canvas.

Fans were quick to criticize and mock Walker for getting knocked out, which has infuriated Hill. This past year at UFC 263, Hill was on the receiving end of a tough loss himself when Paul Craig snapped his arm en route to a first-round TKO. A charged-up Hill took to social media to blast the fans for going after Walker in a two-minute public service announcement.

“I do what I do for the entertainment of the fans and the love of the sport,” Hill said. “And whenever I’m successful, and I get a knockout and have these moments that y’all like, bro, don’t use that time to dog somebody. I’ve lost, so I’ve received the ridicule and the things that come with that, and I understand that people are ignorant. But I can only imagine how y’all doing my man right now, and that sh*t ain’t cool. That sh*t ain’t cool. Think about if that was you.”

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Walker (18-7 MMA, 4-4 UFC) also took issue with fans’ reaction in a video that he shared on his his YouTube channel.

“What’s making me really upset is f*cking people don’t care about the fighter’s health,” Walker said. “What happened after, you know. They just care about the pictures and make the jokes. What makes me upset was people message me and comment like the jokes. People don’t care about other people healthy.

“I train so hard. I am very committed to my career and when I get to the fight and make my best to make the show for the fans. And if I get hurt or something like that happens, people just make jokes about the knockout. They don’t care about my health even if I have brain damage or if I’m OK.”

Watch Walker open up about his loss to Hill in the video below:

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Jamahal Hill responds to Volkan Oezdemir’s callout: ‘My hands will change your life’

Jamahal Hill has sent Volkan Oezdemir a stern warning.

[autotag]Jamahal Hill[/autotag] has sent [autotag]Volkan Oezdemir[/autotag] a stern warning.

Following Hill’s spectacular first-round knockout of Johnny Walker in this past Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 201 headliner, it seemed just about everybody was impressed – except Oezdemir.

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But Hill (10-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC), who has the self-proclaimed best hands in the UFC, thinks Oezdemir would suffer the same fate as his past two opponents, Walker and Jimmy Crute, who he dispatched of in one round.

“I mean that understandable with the brain damage you took in your last 2 fights!!! (1 against a guy making his debut) My hands will change your life think it’s a game and fuck around and find out!!!”

“I’m dead I can’t wait to sleep all yall hero’s cuz yall clearly don’t know the game or what your seeing!!! I’m done speaking on it just wait on it!”

After a fast rise in the UFC which led to a quick title shot, Oezdemir (17-6 MMA, 5-5 UFC) has earned mixed results. The 32-year-old Swiss fighter is coming off back-to-back losses to current title challenger Jiri Prochazka and rising contender Magomed Ankalaev but is currently ranked several spots ahead of Hill in the UFC’s light heavyweight standings.

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Jamahal Hill wants to put ‘tired’ 205-pound division to sleep after UFC Fight Night 201

Jamahal Hill says his knockout of Johnny Walker at UFC Fight Night 201 was just the tip of the iceberg.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Jamahal Hill[/autotag] says his knockout of Johnny Walker at UFC Fight Night 201 was just the tip of the iceberg of what he plans to do to ranked light heavyweights.

Hill (10-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC) added another spectacular highlight to his reel Saturday when he flattened Walker (18-7 MMA, 4-4 UFC) in the first round of the headlining bout at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. It was a brutal finish. Walker went flying back into the cage before getting his lights put out by a final blow.

To Hill, however, it was just clean work.

“Whenever it landed, I seen him kind of wobble,” Hill told MMA Junkie at the UFC Fight Night 201 post-fight news conference. “When I seen him wobble like that, I knew I had to get in and put another one on him and finish him.”

Hill, 30, now has back-to-back wins over notable names at 205 pounds in Walker and Jimmy Crute. He needed less than four minutes of total cage time to dispatch the two of them, and now he’s on an upward trajectory in the weight class.

He doesn’t know exactly what he wants next, but Hill said there are plenty more knockouts to dish out.

“I don’t know (who is next), man,” Hill said. “I feel like the division is a little tired, and ‘Sweet Dreams’ is here to provide some naps.”

The only thing Hill can say with certainty is that his goal is to hold the UFC belt. He next scheduled title fight in the division takes place at UFC 274 on May 7, when Glover Teixeira clashes with Jiri Prochazka.

Hill said Prochazka is something of a dream opponent for him, and he thinks an eventual fight between them – title or not – would be something special.

“The reason I want Jiri so bad is I feel like that’s a fight that from both ends, it would be a banger,” Hill said. “It would be a banger. I think it would be promoted well. Not too many other people have that star ability. I feel like I talk well, I feel like I dress well, I feel like I fight well. I feel like I’ve got that swag. I feel like he was one of those guys.”

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UFC Fight Night 201 bonuses: Four Performance awards given, and of course Jamahal Hill had one of them

While the expectations for Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 201 were a bit lessened following a canceled main event, four fighters earned big.

LAS VEGAS – While the expectations for Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 201 event were a bit lessened following a canceled main event, the replacement headliner delivered, as did a few other thrilling contests.

Rather than go with a traditional Fight of the Night award, UFC officials elected to hand out two addition Performance of the Night awards, and of course headliner [autotag]Jamahal Hill[/autotag] was one of them following his devastating first-round knockout of Johnny Walker.

Check out below to see who all earned a bonus for their performance on Saturday at the UFC Apex.

Twitter reacts to Jamahal Hill’s brutal KO of Johnny Walker at UFC Fight Night 201

See the top Twitter reactions to Jamahal Hill’s win over Johnny Walker in the UFC Fight Night 201 main event.

[autotag]Jamahal Hill[/autotag] secured his first main event win on Saturday when he beat [autotag]Johnny Walker[/autotag] at UFC Fight Night 201.

Hill (10-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC) added to his near-perfect record with a first-round knockout victory over Walker (18-7 MMA, 4-4 UFC) in the matchup of ranked UFC light heavyweights, which took place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Check below for the top Twitter reactions to Hill’s victory over Walker at UFC Fight Night 201