Alex Pereira continues to call out Jamahal Hill, but he’ll have to get past Israel Adesanya first. Hill doesn’t think he’ll pull that off.
Alex Pereira is currently preparing for his second fight against Israel Adesanya in mixed martial arts on April 8th at UFC 287. That hasn’t stopped “Poatan” from continuing to eye new UFC lightweight champion Jamahal Hill.
Hill mangled Pereira’s friend and training partner Glover Teixeira at UFC 283. Since then, Pereira has made it no secret that he plans on moving up to light heavyweight and taking revenge sooner or later. Sooner is perfectly fine for the middleweight champion: he suggested Hill be the backup fighter for Israel Adesanya in April.
“If the UFC wants, if by chance Israel pulls out, they can put Jamahal Hill on standby for a light heavyweight fight on the same night,” Pereira said during an interview with ESPN.
In a new interview with The Schmo, Hill responded to that unorthodox request.
“That’s another weird one, like me being a backup fighter for another weight class twenty pounds under me?” he said. “Which … how much they paying, you know? Yeah, no.”
“I think he should really focus on Izzy because he was getting his ass whopped for a good majority of that fight last time, before he won. Where was that quick stop energy at when I was on top of his boy? Because that was the same ref, right?”
Jamahal Hill doesn’t even expect “Poatan” to get past Adesanya in the rematch, despite Pereira being 3-0 against “The Last Stylebender” across multiple combat sports.
“No. Nah,” he said. “I think he got some things happen for him like the leg check at the end. I think if Izzy just throws hands – just box him, just be quick and outbox him, he’ll win.”
Alex Pereira and Israel Adesanya fight for the fourth time at UFC 287 on April 8th in Miami, Florida. Also on the card: a welterweight scrap between Gilbert Burns and Jorge Masvidal.
As for Jamahal Hill, he’s taking some time after winning the belt on January 21st. His future seems dependent on how quickly former 205 pound champ Jiri Prochazka’s shoulder heals. If “Denisa” can fight by summer, that’s the fight to make. Otherwise, the UFC could throw him in with one of the many contenders at 205 eager to get another shot at the light heavyweight title.