The Return Of Light Heavyweight’s Forgotten King

Knockout artist, Jamahal Hill, looks to return to his throne by taking out kickboxing ace, Alex Pereira, this weekend (Sat., April 13, 2024) at UFC 300 inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

If you just look down his history, the disrespect Hill receives doesn’t make much sense. From the very beginning of his UFC career, he’s been a standout prospect. Undefeated until he suffered a prospect loss to Paul Craig (it happens) Hill rebounded with a vicious three-fight knockout streak over quality competition to prove himself the real deal.

He landed in an unexpected title fight versus Glover Teixeira amidst considerable doubt. One would think that battering the Brazilian into retirement would open some eyes and change some eyes (watch highlights), but little more than one year later, many are completely discounting his chances against Pereira.

And that’s a big mistake.

Let’s take a closer look at his skill set:

Striking

Hill stands 6’4” with a 79-inch reach. He’s primarily a Southpaw, but he can switch stances and throw brutal power with either hand. Most important, he can push a pace that most Light Heavyweights simply cannot match.

Strength, size and toughness are great attributes, they alone rarely make a top-tier fighter. In his bout versus Ovince Saint Preux — an athlete with similar physical gifts, but one whose game is a random mix of dangerous moves — Hill showcased that he’s more than mere physical talent (watch highlights).

For much of the fight, Hill operated from the Southpaw stance, whereas “OSP” switched around, but primarily remained Orthodox. Right away, Hill was working to win the foot battle, lining his own left hand up while getting away from Saint Preux’s power. A simple enough concept, but Hill won lots of exchanges because of his foot position.

Another under-appreciated concept Hill applied well involved attacking the mid-section. He swung his cross for the jaw, sure, but Hill dug his left hand into Saint Preux’s torso a dozen times. As he did so, he slipped his head off the center line toward that aforementioned beneficial angle, making himself difficult to hit and helping set up a right hook to the skull afterward.

The final smart, underutilized fundamental concept Hill applied was answering every kick. Saint Preux is a brutal kicker, and he found some success with the snap kick and outside low kick (when he switched back Southpaw). Any time Hill took a kick, he fired back with at least a cross to the body, often answering with three or four punches. Again, that sounds simple, but it isn’t easy to accomplish, and answering kicks ensured that “OSP” didn’t start picking up momentum.

At distance, the Southpaw right hook is generally a big weapon for Hill, more so than the jab. With his lead hook, Hill will gain the angle to fire his cross. Often, he’ll first look to slap down his foe’s lead hand to land his hook. Against Jimmy Crute, Hill fired the hook on the counter while taking an angle to score an early knockout (GIF). From this check hook, Hill will also use the newly created angle to fire a left kick. Opposite Klidson Abreu, Hill used the right hook to gain an angle and rip a left knee from the clinch, staying in contact with his opponent.

In general, Hill kicks plenty hard. Against right-handed opponents, Hill likes to snap his kick to the body or throw a round kick upstairs. Alternatively, he’ll dig low kicks vs. fellow Southpaws.

In his two of his more recent fights against Johnny Walker and Thiago Santos, Hill again applied a fundamental principle to brilliant results: he crowded the kicker. Both Walker and Santos like to hang back and blast kicks, capitalizing when their opponent overextends to cover that distance.

Hill did not rush, but he applied consistent pressure. He was always advancing, and as mentioned previously, did well to answer kicks with strikes of his own. Against Walker, this produced an early knockout when a Hill left hand connected cleanly in the very first round (GIF). Santos proved a more difficult nut to crack, but the end result was the same. Consistent pressure, body shots, and general aggression really fatigued the Brazilian, who wound up crumbling under Hill’s onslaught late in the fight.

Finally, Hill’s development culminated in a master class at the expense of Glover Teixeira. Really, there weren’t any new skills on display, but his abilities were heightened and sharper. The very first wrestling exchange of the fight, for example, saw Hill frame off his opponent’s clinch and rip a couple nasty knees to the liver. Teixeira visibly reacted, which is quite an accomplishment since the Brazilian legend doesn’t feel pain!

Really, Hill beat Teixeira up at every distance with all the tools mentioned above. His left kick has never been more accurate, as “Sweet Dreams” used stabbing front kicks to set up his open side high kick. Time and time again, it rocked Teixeira through his block.

In the pocket, Hill’s most notable improvement was his use of the jab. From both stances, Hill was doubling up on snappy jabs, which also helped him land the calf kick. In more prolonged exchanges, Hill’s brawling side would emerge. He can do a nice job of stringing together power shots and mixing up the speed slightly, but Hill was content to trade. Often, Hill would feint, lean back, then commit to the brawl.

The lean back lead to some huge lands, but it also backfired on a few occasions when Teixeira blitzed forward and Hill couldn’t lean any further back.

Wrestling

Hill has yet to score a takedown inside the Octagon.

Defensively, Hill has was first tested in his UFC debut, a rather not-so-fun fight versus Darko Stosic. Though Stosic managed to officially score six takedowns, he only racked up a couple minutes on control time in the process, meaning Hill earned the nod as the more effective and active striker. There was a similar dynamic against Santos, who wall wrestled to score his own half-dozen takedowns. Like Stosic, however, Santos could never really maintain control. In truth, he exhausted himself repeatedly driving for takedowns as Hill routinely stood up without getting hurt or controlled in the process.

As for his technical takedown defense skill, Hill pretty standardly fits the mold of most other lanky strikers. Most of the time he’s planted on his butt, it’s because he’s caught standing a bit tall or perhaps his opponent managed to snatch up a kick. At the same time, Hill’s length means that he’s difficult to move around in the clinch, and he’s often able to pull his opponents off his legs when able to lean against the fence.

There was definite defensive improvement against Teixeira. Hill came into the fight equipped to counter Teixeira’s high crotch takedown, which he often did by pressing down on the head and cutting around his opponent’s body to free his leg. Alternatively, pulling Texeira up into the clinch still worked, and Hill did well to dig for underhooks immediately to prevent Teixeira from continuing to control.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

Since Hill has yet to even attempt a submission in UFC or finish one on the regional scene, this section is largely going to be dedicated to Paul Craig dislocating his arm (watch it).

Craig is not the usual Light Heavyweight. Hill landed about a single punch, which convinced the Scottish fighter it was time to grapple. His shot failed, so Craig pulled guard, which is hardly a reaction a prospect like Hill has seen all that often. As a result, Hill made a big mistake. Right away, Craig overhooked both wrists, controlling Hill’s arms. Hill should have fought tooth-and-nail to immediately break those grips, but he relaxed a moment too long, and Crag snapped his arm. With an experienced and deadly submission fighter like Craig, the margin for error is thin.

Against Teixeira, there was only one time Hill found himself in actual danger. Generally, he used the fence and underhook from half-guard well to scramble back to his feet. In the fifth round, however, Teixeira was able to advance to mount — a death sentence for many Light Heavyweights.

Hill stayed composed, however. When Teixeira postured a bit, he dug underneath Teixeira’s leg and escaped out the back door, using a hip bump to create space. This style of escape has risks, most notably the triangle choke. However, that’s hardly Teixeira’s go-to submission, particularly in round five of an exhausting war. Hill was out of a bad spot quickly, and he actually managed to turn the transition into top control by tackling Teixeira as the Brazilian turned to face him.

Conclusion

At 32 years of age and just 14 fights into his professional career, Hill is undoubtedly still in his prime and likely getting better. Provided he’s fully recovered from his devastating Achilles injury (no one really knows), “Sweet Dreams” is a serious threat to Pereira’s new title reign.

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Andrew Richardson, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu brown belt, is a professional fighter who trains at Team Alpha Male in Sacramento, California. In addition to learning alongside world-class talent, Andrew has scouted opponents and developed winning strategies for several of the sport’s most elite fighters.

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