NEWARK, N.J. – UFC light heavyweight champion Jamahal Hill has warned Alex Pereira that challenging him will have him in for a rude awakening.
Former middleweight champion Pereira (7-2 MMA, 4-1 UFC) announced his move to light heavyweight and Hill (12-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) welcomes the challenge.
Hill does think Pereira should at least notch one win in the division before he gets a title shot, but if they do end up fighting, “Sweet Dreams” plans to dominate him.
“If I’m looking at it as far as fair for everybody else in the division, yeah I would say he has to win a fight in order to get a title shot,” Hill told MMA Junkie. “But his name brings some value, so there’s that factor. I’m not dumb to the fact that that could play a factor in somebody getting a fight. I don’t care, bro. I really don’t care. When you get to this fight, it’s not going to be what you think it is. It’s an ass whooping waiting for you here. So whenever you decide to get to that, it is what it is.”
However, Hill isn’t even sure if Pereira will be able to handle the stylistic matchups in the top five in order to earn a title shot.
“Personally, I think he’s got to win one (at light heavyweight),” Hill said. “I don’t know who he beats because he’s going to have to beat somebody in the top five. I know a lot of those guys in the top five are tough. You’re going to have to grapple with them, as well, and I know that’s not a strong suit of his. But they can stand and they can grapple, as well. So we’ll see. I’m excited. I think it’s an exciting time for the division. I think it’s great for the division.”
Hill claimed the vacant 205-pound belt with a dominant victory over Glover Teixeira at UFC 283 in January. He hopes Jiri Prochazka (29-3-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) will have recovered from shoulder surgery in time to compete at UFC 292 on Aug. 19 in Boston.
