Can Jamahal Hill Regain His Light Heavyweight Title From Alex Pereira at UFC 300?

The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) reaches an incredible milestone on April 13 when UFC 300 takes place at the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada, Las Vegas. As you would expect, the card is crammed full of top-tier battles, including three title fights and a title eliminator. One of those title fights has MMA fans tingling with excitement. Of course, we are talking about the Light Heavyweight Championship clash between Alex Pereira and Jamahal Hill.

Pereira is the clear favorite to win his fight with Hill at UFC 300 because he is the reigning Light Heavyweight champion, and this is Hill's first fight since rupturing his Achilles tendon last July. Known as "Poatan," which translates to "Hands of Stone," Pereira has incredible power, resulting in him winning seven of his 11 professional MMA fights via knockout, with three of those victories coming in the first round.

Who is Alex Pereira?

Pereira's story is quite something. He grew up in a favela in his native Brazil and dropped out of middle school to work as a bricklayer's assistant. The drinking culture among his colleagues resulted in Peraria developing a drinking problem, and he became an alcoholic at a young age. In 2009, aged 21, Pereira began kickboxing training to help rid himself of his addiction.

Through 40 professional kickboxing fights, Pereira's record is 33 wins and seven defeats, with 21 of his victories coming via knockout. Two of those impressive wins, including one knockout, were over future UFC Middleweight champion Israel Adesanya.

The Brazilian transitioned to MMA in October 2015, competing in the Jungle Fight promotion. Three wins from four fights while still competing on the kickboxing scene resulted in Dana White signing him to the UFC in September 2021.

His debut win over Andreas Michailidis earned Pereira the Performance of the Night bonus. He then defeated Bruno Silva and Sean Strickland and clinched the UFC Middleweight Championship with another Performance of the Night against his old kickboxing rival, Adesanya.

Adesanya exacted revenge on Pereira at UFC 287, prompting Pereira to step up to Light Heavyweight. A split decision victory over Jan Blachowicz at UFC 291 set up a fight against Jiri Prochazka for the vacant Light Heavyweight championship at UFC 295. Pereira was phenomenal, winning by TKO (elbows) in the second round, thus becoming the Light Heavyweight champion.

Who is Jamahal Hill?

Hill was born in Chicago, Illinois, and while studying at Davenport University, he dreamed of becoming a professional basketball player. However, he opted against pursuing a basketball career and focused on mixed martial arts, making his professional debut in September 2017.

Hill won all four fights in the KnockOut Promotions promotion, including one TKO and three unanimous decisions. He forced William Vincent to retire in his only Light Out Championship bout in February 2019 before receiving the call to appear on Dana White's Contender Series 21 in July 2019. Hill defeated Alexander Poppeck via TKO in the third round, earning himself a UFC contract.

UFC Fight Night 166 saw Hill step into the UFC octagon for the first time and face Darko Stosic. The fight went the distance, and Hill won via unanimous decision. Five months later, Hill thought he had defeated Klidson Abreu via a TKO but later tested positive for marijuana, so the fight was ruled a non-contest.

After serving a six-month suspension, Hill returned to action in December 2020, defeating Ovince Saint Preux. He lost his next fight against Paul Craig after dislocating his elbow in the first round; this is Hill's only professional loss.

Hill made light work of Jimmy Crute in December 2021, knocking him out in the first round. Two months later, he had a similar result against Johnny Walker, another first-round knockout. His clash against Thiago Santos in August 2022 went to the fourth round, where a flurry of punches and elbows ended Santos' night and set up a fight against Glover Teixeira at UFC 283 for the vacant Light Heavyweight Championship.

On January 21, 2023, Hill defeated Teixeira via unanimous decision to become the UFC Light Heavyweight champion and the first Dana White's Contender Series alumnus to win a UFC championship. Unfortunately, Hill's reign was short-lived. In July 2023, he ruptured his Achilles tendon while playing basketball, forcing him to relinquish his title.

What to Expect from the Pereira and Hill Title Fight

The tale of the tape between Pereira and Hill is almost identical throughout. Both stand 6-foot-4 and have the same 79-inch reach. Pereira has a half-inch leg reach, while Hill is four years Pereira's junior. Both fighters prefer to punch and kick rather than battle on the ground, with Pereira and Hill having the power to end one another's fight early if they land one of their trademark ferocious blows.

Pereira's striking accuracy is 62%, and he lands 5.00 strikes per minute. He likes to grind down his opponents through energy-sapping calf kicks before capitalizing on any overextension and landing damaging counterpunches.

Hill prefers to keep his opponents under constant pressure and likes to overwhelm them by marching forward and using his excellent boxing and punching techniques. Although his 54% striking accuracy needs improvement, he lands an average of 7.31 strikes per minute. Pereira absorbs 3.65 strikes per minute, showing the reigning champion has some vulnerabilities in his defense.

Pereira versus Hill should be an intriguing fight. Both athletes must remain calm under pressure and fight intelligently; otherwise, the contest could end quickly. Hill's best chance of victory is to take the fight to Pereira, stand toe-to-toe, and unleash his ferocious punching and elbow attacks against the Brazilian's sub-standard defense. That will not prove easy for Hill because Pereria will attempt to keep Hill at a distance, grinding him down with calf kicks to lessen Hill's punching power, before hoping to capitalize on any mistakes Hill makes.

If this fight goes the distance, Hill will probably reclaim the title his injury robbed him of because he has won all five fights that have gone to the judges. However, Pereira's fights rarely take all five rounds, so expect fireworks from the first bell at UFC 300.