Tag: Jamahal Hill

Ji?í Procházka doesn’t have what it takes to defeat Jamahal Hill in their upcoming bout, claims a former UFC middleweight champion.

Procházka and Hill are set to collide in a crucial matchup on the main card of UFC 311, scheduled for Jan. 18 at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California.

Both former UFC light heavyweight champions are coming off crushing knockout losses to reigning divisional kingpin Alex Pereira in their most recent Octagon appearances. In fact, “Denisa” experienced his first UFC defeat at the hands of Pereira when they fought for the then-vacant 205-pound title at UFC 295 in November 2023.

Procházka’s unorthodox fighting style has made it difficult for his past opponents to decipher, but Luke Rockhold believes that this very uniqueness also exposes significant vulnerabilities — especially when facing someone like Hill.

During a recent appearance on the JAXXON PODCAST, Rockhold lambasted Procházka’s tactics in his rematch against “Poatan” this past June, asserting that the Czech fighter lacked any coherent strategy in the bout.

“I didn’t like the way that Ji?í fought his last time out versus Pereira,” Rockhold said. “He just didn’t look like he would follow the game plan. Like, what were you doing? I don’t know. To think you could stand with him and play this karate style, Kung Fu game. You can’t fight like that, a guy that he’s so dangerous, you can’t fight with your hands down and you got to go for takedowns. You identified his weakness, but you didn’t even try to exploit it.”

The former UFC middleweight champion went on to assert that “Sweet Dreams” holds a distinct tactical advantage over Procházka and is more than capable of getting the job done at UFC 311.

“Jamahal Hill’s more dangerous. He’s got pop, he’s got power, he goes for the kill and Jamahal’s got funky — he’s weirdly athletic sometimes. He’s hard to take down. You’ve seen in the Glover [Teixeira] fight, he was able to get up and get his way and funks his way through a lot of things and he ends up finding his shot, the kill shot. But, like I said, this is a rebuilding process for both of them and you don’t know, but I don’t know. I might favor Jamahal in this one.”

• Read More: Ji?í Procházka Shrugs Off Jamahal Hill’s Trash Talk Ahead Of UFC 311: ‘My Actions Will Talk’

Ji?í Procházka doesn’t appear to be in the mood to entertain Jamahal Hill’s attempts at getting under his skin ahead of their upcoming bout.

Procházka is gearing up for a high-stakes showdown with Hill at UFC 311, scheduled for Jan. 18 at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California.

Both Procházka and Hill are coming off devastating knockout defeats at the hands of reigning UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Alex Pereira in their last Octagon appearances. Since their bout was booked, “Sweet Dreams” has made some bold comments about the Czech fighter’s style. Hill went so far as to compare their losses to Pereira, claiming that while he was caught accidentally at UFC 300, Procházka was “done bad” at UFC 303.

During a recent interview with MMA Fighting, “Denisa” mentioned that he’s aware of Hill badmouthing him but has no intention of responding in kind to the American’s antics.

“I don’t care what he’s saying because it’s not just primarily about me, it just shows what what is in his head,” Procházka said. “Man, I don’t care about what other people say about me because when you know how this works, how to work the mental of the human body, so how people can speak about others and why they speak about others, especially when he don’t know me personally. He knows just my fighting style and in that, he’s totally out with his commentary.”

Procházka went on to explain why he chooses not to engage in trash talk, stressing that he’s more than willing to settle the score with Hill once the Octagon gates closes.

“So that’s why I don’t care about these trash talks because. Do you know how the true confident man, a real man [looks] like? He don’t know. He don’t need to say some sh*t about others, to speak about his strong sides and about the weaknesses in his opponent because he’s self-confident too much to not do that… I’m going there, I will show my best, and I will show that to all the world that I’m the best, and that’s all. My actions will talk.”

Prior to his latest defeat to Pereira in a short-notice title fight this past June, Procházka secured a second-round finish over Aleksandar Raki? at UFC 300.

Meanwhile, Hill’s loss to “Poatan” marked his return to the Octagon after a memorable title win over Glover Teixeira at UFC 283 in January 2023. “Sweet Dreams” was forced to vacate his title in July 2023 due to an injury.

• Read More: Anthony Smith: Ji?í Procházka In For ‘A Bad Night’ vs. Jamahal Hill At UFC 311