Jamahal Hill is taking his UFC 300 knockout loss to Alex Pereira in stride and is looking forward to his upcoming clash with Khalil Rountree at UFC 303.
The buildup to the bout saw Hill repeatedly call out those doubting his ability to defeat Pereira, with things even getting heated between the two competitors during the UFC 300 press conference. Now, following a bitter loss to the reigning divisional champion, Hill has no intentions of obsessing over the defeat and is eager to get back in the win column.
“I mean, I’ve dealt with it by just moving forward,” Hill told Middleasy . ”At the end of the day, fighting is what I do, it's not who I am. It's not my entire life, you know? It's just benefitted other areas of my life in very significant ways. I’ve just got to focus on that and understand that this isn't the end of the road for me. Yeah, it sucks. Yeah, it's unfortunate. Yeah, I saw things going another different way, but it’s an opportunity for me to meet adversity and challenge it and have other success with it.”
The former UFC light heavyweight champion is slated to take on Rountree at UFC 303 and is eager to earn his way back to a fight with “Poatan.”
During the same interview, Hill also went on to give his take on Pereira’s next potential clash against Magomed Ankalaev. According to the Dana White’s Contender Series graduate, Ankalaev has the tools to dismantle the two-division champion.
“That’s part of the reason I wanted to come back so soon, I didn’t want Magomed to get a hold of him [Alex] first," said Hill. "Magomed’s stance is a problem for Pereira. Pereira doesn’t fight well against southpaws, kind of like that whole sequence is pointed to. He doesn't take the angle and he doesn't pursue. He doesn't fight against southpaws very well; Magomed’s a southpaw. Magomed can can come with a very grapple-heavy approach, as well. He picks decent shots and he is capable on the feet. So, yeah, I’d probably favor Magomed.”
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