After UFC 282‘s main event between Jan Blachowicz and Magomed Ankalaev ended in a contentious draw, it left the light heavyweight belt vacant. Former champion, Jiri Prochazka vacated the title after suffering a devastating injury in training and the two men were fighting for that belt.
A light heavyweight champion will be crowned at UFC 283, however, as UFC president, Dana White announced at the UFC 282 post-fight press conference that the former champion, Glover Texieria will take on #7, Jamahal Hill for the vacant light heavyweight belt.
🚨 BREAKING NEWS 🚨@GloverTeixeira to take on @JamahalH for the vacant LHW title at #UFC283! pic.twitter.com/JQOpACa6u4
— UFC (@ufc) December 11, 2022
Glover Teixeira
The former champion, Teixeira was set to face Prochazka in the UFC 282 main event, however, following Prochazka’s injury, it left Teixeira in a difficult position. He was offered a fight with Ankalaev on the same card, however, he opted against this fight. He did accept the fight, although he stated that he wanted the fight to be moved to UFC 283 to give him more time to prepare. The UFC rejected this.
He captured the belt off Jan Blachowicz in October of last year, upsetting the odds in more ways than one. He then put on a fight of the year contender against Prochazka in June, however, lost that fight in the final round.
He will again fight for the belt at the ripe age of 43.
Jamahal Hill
Jamahal Hill must feel as though he’s won the lottery on this Sunday morning. He wasn’t even in the title picture, despite winning three fights back to back, all via finish of which two came in main event slots. He also earned three-post fight bonuses across these three bouts.
He last fought Thiago Santos in August. Let’s not get mistaken, Hill is a phenomenal fighter with scary power. His lone career loss comes at the hands of Paul Craig, however, he’s since bounced back well.
Smith was scheduled to face Anthony Smith on March 11th and it is yet unclear what will happen with Smith, however, we assume he will get a new opponent.
