Alex Pereira retained his Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Light Heavyweight title by knocking out former division king, Jamahal Hill, in the very first round of the UFC 300 main event last night (Sat., April 13, 2024) in Las Vegas, Nevada.
It was a satisfying finish for “Poatan,” who seemed to be out to teach “Sweet Dreams” a lesson in more ways than one after his pre-fight behavior shifted from cordial to downright disrespectful as fight night drew nearer.
“I spoke with my team before that I wanted to fight five rounds, but if the knockout happened, that’s what I was going to do,” Pereira said during the post-fight presser (via MMA Fighting).
“He behaved not so good. He started respectful during the week and then he did what he did during the press conference and the weigh-ins, so honestly the least that I could do was just that to him.”
Earlier during fight week, Hill walked up to Pereira and asked him for an autograph, surprisingly, which seemed to give off the vibe that their interactions moving forward were going to be respectful.
That did not turn out to be the case.
During the pre-fight press conference and weigh ins, tension started to build and Hill’s once friendly demeanor went the other way, which isn’t out of the ordinary. But Pereira took exception to it and their was a price to be paid in the form of a first-round finish.
Speaking of which, “Poatan” was able to secure the technical knockout (TKO) win just seconds after he ate a low blow. But instead of allowing Herb Dean to step in to put a pause in the action, Pereira waved off the referee and proceeded to handle his business, delivering the devastating left hook just moments later.
According to the 205-pound champion, there was a specific reason why he didn’t want to take a break.
“I was starting to find my distance. I started using leg kicks from the beginning so I could find his distance. He’s a southpaw, so it’s a little harder,” he added. “My game plan was to start throwing hands after that, so then he threw the groin shot, but it did not really hurt too much, so I chose to just keep pushing so I did not have to reset the distance. Capitalize on the moment.”
And capitalize he did, leaving Hill — as well as the fans and fighters in attendance — stunned in disbelief.
As far as what could be next for Pereira, that is a bit unclear at the moment but it seems that a potential title defense against Magomed Ankalaev could be on the horizon. Whether or not it happens in a few weeks at UFC 301 in Brazil, remains to be seen.
For complete UFC 300 results, coverage and highlights click HERE.