Jamahal Hill faced light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira in the main event of UFC 300 a few weeks ago. ‘Sweet Dreams’ had become champion after mauling ‘Poatan’s’ dear friend and mentor Glover Teixeira for five rounds in their UFC 283 bout last year. The Chicago native, however, got injured last year and chose to vacate the belt before he could defend it even once. Hill went into the anniversary mega-card determined to reclaim the title he felt was rightfully his since he hadn’t lost it in the octagon.

That changed in the very first round of his UFC 300 clash against Pereira. The champion proceeded to display his legendary left hand and TKO Hill within the first four minutes to retain his 205-pound title. Hill, of course, chose to make a quick turnaround and will face #8 ranked Khalil Rountree at UFC 303 on June 29. The card will be headlined by Conor McGregor‘s much-awaited comeback bout against Michael Chandler. While the 32-year-old is confident he will be able to defeat Rountree, he made some ominous predictions about Pereira’s next potential fight.

In a recent interview with MiddleEasy, Hill predicted that if Alex Pereira faced #2 ranked Magomed Ankalaev next, ‘Poatan’ wouldn’t fare well given the stylistic matchup between the two. This, he explained, was “part of the reason I wanted to come back so soon, I didn’t want Magomed to get a hold of [Alex Pereira] first.” The former 205-pound champion felt that Ankalaev’s southpaw stance “is a problem for Pereira” because “Pereira doesn’t fight well against southpaws… He doesn’t take the angles, he doesn’t pursue.” 

In addition, he felt the Dagestani’s “grapple heavy approach”, as well as his ability to pick “decent shots” would be a challenge for the Brazilian. This is why Hill would “probably favour Magomed” to win against Pereira.

Jamahal Hill is so worried that Anakalev will defeat Pereira, that he is rushing into a fight with Khalil Rountree to notch up a win and get back into title contention. However, there is a chance that the risk Hill is taking by fighting so soon after being knocked out by ‘Poatan’ may be unnecessary since Pereira is looking to make history and leave the light heavyweight division, at least for his next fight.

Why does Alex Pereira want to move up to heavyweight?

After defeating Jamahal Hill at UFC 300, Alex Pereira called on the UFC to book him for a heavyweight bout at UFC 301 in his native Brazil. While Dana White spoke out against the idea, suggesting ‘Poatan’ stick to 205, he did not close the door on the prospect of the Brazilian moving up to the UFC’s heaviest division. And there are very good reasons for the former Glory FC double champion to want to move up.

While Pereira began to focus on his UFC career quite late, at the age of 33, following a distinguished kickboxing career, he has essentially speedrun the UFC. In only his seventh bout in the Dana White-led promotion, ‘Hands of Stone’ became only the ninth person to win titles at two divisions in the UFC. Since he came to MMA late, and with the clock on the 36-year-old’s career ticking rapidly, Pereira seems determined to do everything to leave behind a legacy that would put him on the Mount Rushmore of the UFC.

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And what better way to do that than to become the first and potentially even only UFC fighter to win titles at three separate weight divisions in the world’s biggest, most competitive MMA promotion? Pereira certainly has the power to be respected by even the bigger guys at heavyweight and has an iron will that has already seen him achieve things that seemed almost impossible before he did it.

This is why the prospects of Pereira moving up to 270 are not as remote as many think. In this case, Jamahal Hill has little to worry about since neither Ankalaev nor any other light heavyweight would be facing ‘Poatan’ in his next fight.

What do you think about the statements made by Hill and Pereira’s wish to move to heavyweight? Let us know in the comments below.