Jamahal Hill has to be one of the most disrespected men on the UFC roster.
The disdain towards “Sweet Dreams” has little if anything to do with his performance in the cage. The last time we saw Hill, he put on the best performance of his entire career to savagely maul Glover Teixeira. He beat the life from the former champion, barely taking a shot en route to a dominant decision. Admittedly, that title opportunity only materialized because Jiri Prochazka’s shoulder exploded, but he still beat up Teixeira in far better style than “BJP.”
Prior to that win, Hill viciously knocked out three straight opponents.
That’s not to say the disrespect towards Hill is baseless. Hill is known for a lack of professionalism, blowing up in weight while outside of fight camp. Fight fans don’t like to see champions inflate like Paddy Pimblett during the offseason. It’s not healthy for career longevity, and many see a connection between Hill’s torn Achilles tendon last year and his weight gain.
The recent domestic violence allegations — in which Hill is accused of fist-fighting his brother during the holidays — are not a great way to endear oneself to the fight community either. Finally, the man spends quite a bit of time arguing with fans on Twitter, even when they’re trying to pay him compliments!
It doesn’t help Hill’s case that he’s been replaced as champion by Alex Pereira, a universally loved knockout artist with better credentials. Relatively few fans have been demanding a unification match on his return, even if that’s been the fairly established course of action for the Light Heavyweight division.
Put simply: Hill is the butt of many jokes right now. He can’t get no respect, despite a 12-1 professional record, UFC title win, and selection of nasty knockout wins on his resume.
The irony here is that despite that online laughingstock status, Hill just scored the most high-profile and lucrative position in the sport. We’ve been talking about the UFC 300 main event slot endlessly, and nobody was volunteering Hill’s name as a first choice. No, it was all Dricus Du Plessis vs. Israel Adesanya, Khamzat vs. someone, Conor McGregor’s return, Alex Pereira vs. a Heavyweight. The event is a big deal, and everyone wanted an appropriately massive main event.
One by one, the viable options started ticking away for the promotion, to the point that Chael Sonnen was upset with Jon Jones for revealing that leverage to his fellow athletes. UFC needed a main event, and the promotion ultimately turned to Hill to save the day.
In more ways than one, this is a massive chance at redemption for Hill. Not only does he get a chance to win back the belt he never actually lost, but he can really legitimize his title reign and effectively flip off any initial detractors still mad about Prochazka’s injury. Plus, there’s a whole lot of fans lost in the mysticism of Pereira’s knockout power and K-1 resume, who assume an MMA striker like Hill have nothing for him.
Hill has a real opportunity here to prove the haters wrong, secure his belt, and score a massive paycheck — all on the promotion’s biggest stage. It’s a shocking turn of events, but at least one that adds another layer of intrigue to a main event many find underwhelming.