Less than a month out from a monumental UFC 300 card, event headliner, Alex Pereira still remains a distinct betting favorite to beat incoming foe, Jamahal Hill – and successfully retain his light heavyweight crown as part of one of the biggest event’s of Octagon history.
Pereira, a former undisputed middleweight champion, returns to the Octagon next month in the main event of UFC 300, taking on Dana White’s Contender Series alum, Hill in his first attempted defense of his title at 205 pounds.
Last time out, the GLORY Kickboxing Hall of Fame inductee landed his second promotional title with a blistering second round TKO win over former champion, Jiri Prochazka, felling the Czech Republic native with a stoppage at UFC 295 last November at Madison Square Garden.
For Hill, the Illinois native has yet to make his comeback since he defeated Alex Pereira’s compatriot, close friend and teammate, Glover Teixeira last January on enemy territory in Brazil.
Alex Pereira remains favorite to beat Jamahal Hill at UFC 300
And entering his first fight since suffered a ruptured achilles last summer, Hill is closing as a sizeable +130 betting underdog to beat the incumbent -155 betting favorite, Alex Pereira atop the T-Mobile Arena card at UFC 300.
Fans hoping to splash some cash on some of the biggest UFC next matches can check out all the latest odds on future fight cards and fast-approaching clashes over at Sportsbet.io – with punters and bettors receiving live up to date odds for each fight on many incoming cards.
First lifting Octagon gold back in 2021, Sao Paulo striking sensation, Alex Pereira turned in a come-from-behind win over arch-rival, Israel Adesanya at Madison Square Garden fighting through adversity to prevent the bout seeing a judge’s scorecard, with a late fifth round TKO win over the City Kickboxing staple.
Casting his line in light heavyweight waters soon after his thunderous second round KO loss to the Nigerian-Kiwi last April, Pereira bested another former Octagon gold holder in the form of Jan Blachowicz in a narrow decision win last July at UFC 291 – setting up his title charge against Prochazka.
Despite suffering a catastophic ankle injury during a pick-up basketball game with UFC alums and fellow fighters last summer ahead of UFC 290 during International Fight Week, the above-mentioned Hill will still enter his fight with Pereira in the midst of an eye-catching four fight winning run.
With his sole loss in that timeframe coming in the form of a nasty armbar submission loss to Paul Craig, Hill has since enjoyed wins over the likes of Jimmy Crute, Johnny Walker, and Thiago Santos – finishing Pereira’s compatriots with a pair of knockout wins.
And despite headlining the promotion’s monumentla UFC 300 card next month, Hill couldn’t help but reveal the showdown against Pereira came in rather surprising and hasty fashion.
“I found out for sure, for sure that it was locked in since I’ve been in here,” Jamahal Hill said during an interview at UFC 298. “When I got to the venue, we talked about it, and I agreed to it yesterday [Friday].”
“Look, ‘Sweet Dreams’ is not gonna lie to the people, I ain’t lie to you guys,” Jamahal Hill explained. “I told you what I knew – partially. …Everybody wants to be on [UFC] 300, but realistically, it didn’t really come on my radar, it didn’t really happen until yesterday, I’m not evern going to lie, yesterday.”
Who wins at UFC 300 next month: Alex Pereira or Jamahal Hill?