Jamahal Hill is tired of being disrespected and decided to briefly take out his frustrations on sideline reporter Megan Olivi.
Hill’s journey to the light heavyweight championship was far from ordinary. After former titleholder, Jiri Prochazka vacated the 205-pound crown to focus on recovering from shoulder surgery, ‘Sweet Dreams’ was promoted to the UFC 283 main event, squaring off with Glover Teixeira for the opportunity to become the new light heavyweight king. Hill delivered a brilliant performance over 25 minutes to capture the title while simultaneously sending Teixeira into retirement.
On Saturday night, a new potential contender emerged as division standout Johnny Walker scored a unanimous decision victory over perennial contender Anthony ‘Lionheart’ Smith at UFC Charlotte. Following his victory, Walker spoke with Megan Olivi about a potential rematch with Jamahal Hill, this time with UFC gold on the line. During their conversation, Olivi mistakenly called ‘Sweet Dreams’ the division’s interim champion, a comment that quickly got the attention of Hill.
“Interim Champ? @MeganOlivi that’s how you feel?” Hill wrote in a now-deleted tweet.
However, Jamahal Hill appeared to overlook the fact that Megan Olivi quickly corrected herself on the broadcast.
“I immediately corrected myself! I’m so sorry, you know I have nothing but respect for you!” Olivi tweeted in response.
It didn’t take long for fans to chime in on the situation, prompting Jamahal Hill to confirm that he didn’t hear the entire interview and that everything was all good between the two.
“Y’all chill on @MeganOlivi I was getting on a plane a didn’t listen close enough to the clip!!! She made a mistake and immediately corrected herself!! It’s always been nothing but love and respect between us!!!” Hill said.
It’s far from the first time that a fighter has criticized a member of the UFC broadcast, but it was a rare occasion to see a fighter issue an apology for making a snap judgment. Unfortunately, the situation probably didn’t do much in the way of earning Jamahal Hill respect among his skeptics even though his run to the light heavyweight title and his overblown spat with Megan Olivi have little to do with one another.
Jamahal Hill Likes His Chances Against Jiri Prochazka in Potential Title Tilt
Recent reports suggested that Jamahal Hill would make his first defense of the 205-pound title against Jiri Prochazka in August when the promotion returns to Boston for UFC 292. Unfortunately, ‘Denisa’ revealed that the proposed August date will be too soon for his return after undergoing shoulder surgery.
“August is still early for me because, and I keep saying this, I don’t want to just come there healthy in the cage and go fight right away,” said Procházka on the Fair Play Thinker podcast. “I want to come into the cage with the fact that I’ve broken down my style and taken a step and I’m a step ahead in my fighting style, my career, my mindset, everything.”
Jamahal Hill hopes that the pair can reschedule the contest soon as he clearly likes his chances against the heavy-hitting Czech.
“I feel like my skill level vastly surpasses that of his own,” Hill told MMA Junkie. “I feel like he’s a very physical dude. He’s strong, he has some natural, physical attributes, but the skill and the certain understanding on the level that I understand this sh*t? He’s not there. I was just watching his fights the other day,” . “He’s not that guy. I can’t wait to get him in there. I truly can’t wait to get him in there so he can really see what it’s like. It’s going to be funny. I’m going to beat the dog sh*t out of that man.”