Former UFC light heavyweight champion Jamahal Hill has given his take on Saturday's main event between Alex Pereira and Magomed Ankalaev — and he doesn't foresee it being a popular one.
This weekend's UFC 313 pay-per-view will conclude with Pereira's fourth defense of the light heavyweight gold, which he held through three challenges in 2024.
Among the fallen contenders was Hill, who was knocked out by "Poatan" inside the first round at UFC 300 last April.
But despite feeling the full force of Pereira's patented left hook, "Sweet Dreams" doesn't expect Magomed Ankalaev to suffer the same fate inside T-Mobile Arena on March 8.
During a video recently uploaded to his YouTube channel, Hill broke down the latest title fight in his division. Of note was his belief that Ankalaev's striking threat is being wrongly counted out.
Magomed’s striking is seriously being slept on here,” Hill said. “I don’t believe that Pereira sits back and wants to fight out of the pocket. He wants to put the pressure on him and land good, hard shots on the outside. The problem with that is, Magomed is a counter striker.
If you look at his last few fights, he counters. He waits for you to throw, to overexert yourself, and even off of feints, if you feint and it puts your feet in the wrong spot, he’s countering you. He counters with combinations. They’re fast, and he mixes up his punches. So, he has a variety of strikes available at his disposal.
That, coupled with the Dagestani's well-known grappling ability, has left Hill leaning on the challenger's side with his prediction.
I know I'm going to get hate for this," Hill stated. "But I get hate anyway, f*ck y'all. I'm probably going to go with Magomed. I've just got a feeling. ... I feel he has more tools to win. Alex has that one-hit wonder...but I believe Magomed also has that.
He's been in this position for. He let the title slip away, slip out of his hands once before. I believe he'll be a lot more focused, locked in for this," Hill continued. "Ultimately, he just has more ways to win.
Hill will look to stake his claim for a showdown with the winner down the line when he returns to action at the UFC Fight Night in Kansas City next month.
After a loss to Jiří Procházka at UFC 311 this past January, "Sweet Dreams" is now tasked with dispatching of Khalil Rountree Jr. if he's to avoid a three-fight losing skid.