Jamahal Hill vows to challenge winner of Jiri Prochazka vs. Alex Pereira after UFC 295

11/11/2023 18:00

Jamahal Hill will sit front and center at UFC 295, and he anticipates he'll challenge the winner of the main event once he's healthy enough to compete.

In a perfect world, Hill would be making the first defense of his light heavyweight title right now. Instead, a ruptured Achilles tendon forced him to relinquish the belt he won in January. In his absence, the UFC booked Jiri Prochazka against Alex Pereira to crown a new champion.

As much as it stings that he can't fight on Saturday, Hill plans to scout both fighters after getting a promise from the UFC that he'll get the first crack at the new champion next year.

"I think it's a good fight," Hill told MMA Fighting. "I think it's intriguing, it's interesting, it's got a lot of questions to it, a lot of mystery to it of how it could be done.

"A lot of people are expecting a standup battle. Just like a hell of a kickboxing display. If they come out and maybe get a little bit more good boxing in the pocket, just a banger, a dog fight. Or one of them actually shows some dominant display of grappling or something, you've got a lot of room to be surprised."

Prochazka returns under a similar circumstance as Hill after suffering a major shoulder injury that prompted him to vacate the UFC title while he recovered.

Now 17 months removed from initially winning the belt, he comes back to face a former middleweight champion in Pereira, who earned the opportunity to compete for a second title when he dispatched Jan Blachowicz in July.

In terms of style, Prochazka has made his presence felt in the UFC, thanks to an unorthodox and oftentimes unpredictable display of striking and grappling. He holds a perfect 3-0 record in the octagon, but he has also endured struggles along the way, especially in back-and-forth fights with Dominick Reyes and Glover Teixeira.

"He takes some risks," Hill said of Prochazka. "He does things a little out of the ordinary and unorthodox for most coaches, and most people wouldn't advise you to do. I think they work for him.

"One, he's a pretty big dude. He's got long arms. He's got pretty good reach. I think he's very physically strong. One thing I notice about his stature when I see him in person, he's got a very strong physical posture and stance. It looks f****** awkward, he's built like a f****** action figure, but he's got a pretty strong posture. I think he's very physically strong, so I think that's enabled him to get away with it a little bit. He believes in the crazy ass s*** he does."

As for Pereira, he's a GLORY Hall of Famer and arguably one of the most credentialed strikers to ever compete in the UFC. Much like Prochazka, Pereira made a rapid rise up the ranks and became champion in his fourth UFC by knocking out longtime rival Israel Adesanya.

Pereira lost a rematch to Adesanya before moving up to 205 pounds. He won't have to suffer through another brutal weight cut to compete at middleweight.

That said, Hill agrees with fellow UFC light heavyweight contender Anthony Smith that Pereira might face some struggles at light heavyweight due to his size.

"That's a fair assessment," Hill said. "Everybody was like, 'He's such a giant, he's so huge.' Don't get me wrong, he's tall. He's tall, but he's not that big of a dude. We're talking like as far as broad, he's got long limbs, he's got long arms, he's got long legs, he's got a long torso, he's got a big head — but for the most part, he's almost a lanky dude.

"At middleweight, which makes him seem like a giant. But at 205, I'd say as far as stature, he's a little bit on the small side."

Even if Pereira gives up size to Prochazka on Saturday, Hill believes he knows the key to victory for the Brazilian.

"I have a feeling I know what Alex is going to do," Hill explained. "Alex is going to try to come forward and put Jiri on the back foot, which I think would be smart. Put him on the back foot and force him to throw.

"Because Jiri's strikes, the wild and unorthodox s*** may seem crazy to somebody that's out in the air guessing, but if you're actually walking him down and putting shots on him where he actually has to throw back [with precision] and counter, if you can make it a little technical, I think that works out for Alex very well."

On the flip side, Hill believes Prochazka's strength and physicality will play a part, especially if he just negates Pereira's striking by dragging the fight to the floor.

"I think he's going to come out and grab him," Hill said of Prochazka's strategy. "I think we'll see some grappling mixed in, which will be smart for Jiri. Mix in some grappling, wear on him, make him feel the weight of a 205er. Make him have to exchange in that grappling a little bit, kind of like [Adesanya] did in that first fight [with Pereira]. I believe it was the third round, [Adesanya] drug him down and wore on him a little bit from there. Make that happen."

Hill isn't making a prediction for the fight because ultimately he just wants the next title shot. Ideally, though, he prefers the opponent who will draw the most eyeballs.

"For me, I want the fight the most people want to see," Hill said. "That's what I want. I want to sell. I want to be a part of big shows and put on big shows and take home the checks from those big shows. That's what I got into this for.

"My time is coming back. I'll be back. It's only a bump in the road. Whenever I come back, it's right back like I never left."