Jamahal Hill insinuates that it’s Alex Pereira who sparked their heated altercation.
Hill (12-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC) and light heavyweight champion Pereira (12-2 MMA, 9-1 UFC) engaged in a heated back-and-forth while both were training at the UFC Performance Institute on Thursday. That prompted Pereira to tell Hill to put on the gloves and step in the cage.
Hill’s most recent outing came in a knockout loss to Pereira at UFC 300 in April. “Sweet Dreams” shared in detail what happened between the pair at the UFC PI.
“I was at the PI earlier. Alex was there,” Hill said on his YouTube channel. “I just finished working out. He was working out, and I went to go up and have a conversation, ask him what we on? We don’t have to talk across Twitter because I’m right here. Initially, when I went up to him, it was smooth, ‘Don’t run to heavyweight, and I’m going to go ahead and handle business, and then we need to run it back.’ And in the middle of the exchange, he said something to his translator, and his translator said, ‘He said you’re still sleeping, woke up and sh*t.’ I’m wide awake now. You can get put to sleep for real. Then it kind of went to a whole fake ass, ‘Yeah, come get the gloves and go in the cage.’
“Which I replied, ‘What the f*ck we need gloves for? We’re not getting paid right now.’ I get paid to put on gloves and fight. When I’m out in a situation like that, we could throw hands right now. I’m not finna wait, take time, put no gloves on or none of that sh*t. We can just throw hands right now, and his response was just to stand there. So f*ck it, we’re going to get paid. I’m not going to ruin my bread, because here’s the thing, right: If I just reached over and hit him there and we started fighting right there, I possibly lose out on my next fight, and any opportunities I have left – restrictions now at the PI and all these other things. We get paid. We made a lot of money the first time we fought, so why would I not make a lot of money when I knock his ass out the next time?”
Hill will look to rebound when he takes on fellow ex-light heavyweight champion Jiri Prochazka at UFC 311 on Jan. 18. Magomed Ankalaev continues to push for the next title shot against Pereira.
