Surprise UFC 300 headliner, Jamahal Hill will headline the biggest card in UFC history despite only having eight UFC bouts. Included in these eight bouts are a no-contest and a loss to Paul Craig.
With that being said, he’s only been to a decision twice in his UFC career, winning all of his other bouts via knockout.
With six UFC wins, including a title fight victory last time out, we rank Jamahal Hill’s wins from his best to his least impressive.
UFC on ESPN+ 24 – Darko Stosic via unanimous decision
In what was his UFC debut, Hill showed what we could come to expect. He came in confident and utilised a well-rounded striking game. He was characteristically pin-point with his attacks and punished Stosic every time he pressured forwards.
Why this one is so low down on the list is because he was unable to finish his opponent, despite dominating large periods of the fight. With that being said, we saw large flaws in his game which will follow him throughout his career. His defensive awareness wasn’t good, something he’ll have to improve against Alex Pereira.
UFC on ESPN 19 – Ovince St Preux via Round 2 TKO
This is Hill’s most underwhelming knockout victory in his UFC career. He looked slow, sloppy and in front of a quiet Apex crowd, didn’t seem to have his killer instinct. Although he easily out-struck the former title challenger, nothing he did appeared to be done with a level of urgency.
A rudimentary 1-2 and a number of stiff jabs saw him keep OSP at bay, however, a smooth overhand right saw him hurt his opponent, back him up and unload. Hill was clearly looking for the one-hitter quitter, show-stopping KO, swinging wild overhands, hooks and often being off balance as a result. The finish was good, with Hill unloading on a clearly hurt OSP, showing something that he would go on to utilise far more in his career, wicked knees from the clinch and close-range power, however, the fight as a whole was underwhelming.
UFC on ESPN 40 – Thiago Santos via Round 4 TKO
Granted, it was hard for Hill to look good in this one. We know what Thiago Santos is. A heavy-handed, powerful striker with a questionable gas tank. That isn’t exactly what we got, however. The Brazilian turned into a wrestler during his main event with Hill, looking to throw big shots and more often than not collapse into a wrestling transition.
Hill was constantly on the defensive, having to fight off Santos’ takedown attempts and more often than not succeeding. With that being said, he also didn’t look too good on the feet, potentially due to the threat of the takedown. Large swelling over his right eye as well as a number of big shots landed on Hill saw Santos have success everywhere, however, it was the heavy hands and clinch work of the future champion that got it done.
The performance of Hill was good enough to get him a title shot, but not his best showing in the UFC.
UFC 283 – Glover Teixeira via Unanimous Decision
The night that Jamahal Hill heard “AND NEW” saw him defeat the legend, Glover Teixeira via unanimous decision in Brazil. In a dominant display, Hill out-pointed, battered, bloodied and ultimately outclassed his Brazilian counterpart on the night. He was simply put, better.
For the first time in his career, Sweetdreams went 25 minutes and although his gas tank struggled, he was still able to put it on the former champion throughout. There were times during the third and fourth rounds when the referee, Marc Goddard could have stepped in and no one would have complained.
Hill out-struck his opponent 248-108, attempted 419 total strikes and defended 15 of 17 takedowns. A truly dominant performance for UFC 300s title challenger.
UFC on ESPN+ 59 – Johnny Walker via Round 1 KO
We can’t learn much from 2:55 of action, however, what we did learn is Hill hits extremely hard, can negate a flashy striker and showed us that he has a good understanding of kicking range. Johnny Walker constantly attempted high kicks and Hill managed to block well as well as shift out of range on several occasions.
He constantly pressured forwards which ultimately led to the huge (crazy) knockout. We saw just how powerful Hill is. He seemingly only clipped Walker on the front of his head, separating him from consciousness instantly. A really solid performance.
UFC on ESPN 31 – Jimmy Crute via Round 1 KO
By definition, this has to be Jamahal Hill’s best UFC win. He was nearly flawless for the entire fight. At the time, Jimmy Crute was coming off a disappointing doctor stoppage loss to Anthony Smith, however, prior to that, he’d picked up two big wins.
Hill was also coming off a loss, the first of his career at the hands of Paul Craig. As the underdog going into the fight, Hill had it all to do and that’s exactly what he did. In just 0:48, Hill knocked out Crute with a slick right hook. Earlier on in the fight, the American had dropped Crute with a check right hook, a strike we’d seen him throw twice before.
The finish came with almost an identical shot which required just a single follow-up shot. What is proved was just how quick Hill can be as well as how well he can follow a game plan.
Will Hill be adding to his winning run at UFC 300 against Alex Pereira? Only time will tell!
