Despite Physical and Emotional Hurdles, Jamahal Hill Never Considered Pulling Out of UFC Vegas 44

Las Vegas, NV — It was a rough training camp for Jamahal Hill ahead of UFC Vegas 44.

There was a foot injury. The death of his former football coach. A friend and training partner passed away. A trying time, “physically, emotionally,” Hill admitted at the UFC Vegas 44 media day on Wednesday.

Pulling out of the fight, however, was “not an option for me,” Hill (8-1, 1NC) added. “I’ve got a family to feed. It is what it is, I’ve got to do what I’ve got to do, and then I’ve got to do what I’ve got to do. But it’s definitely been one of those emotional type things, just one thing after another. But I’m here, and I’m ready to go.”

That attitude has nothing to do, however, with silencing critics following his last fight — which saw his arm dislocated by Paul Craig. “I have nothing to prove,” Hill stated Wednesday. “I’m not obligated to show people. Out there the only thing I’m obligated to show is myself, and what I can do. And if me being me ain’t good enough, it is what the f*ck it is.”

He did admit, however, that while stuck in that submission attempt against Craig — who later finished him with elbows — that he thought his arm had snapped.

“I thought it was broken. I thought it was broken. Just based on how it looked,” he recalled. “Whenever it initially happened, I didn’t know it happened. Because just like you saw, the arm-bar was tight.”

Usually, said Hill, he’s able to relax and work his way out. Instead, he wound up looking for his arm only to realize Craig still had it. “And I didn’t even notice it. I’m reaching for my arm, and I’m like ‘oh shit, he’s still got it. That can’t be good.’ So when I realized he still had it and I was reaching for it, I’m like ‘that’s probably not good,’ then he rolled over and when he went for the triangle I saw it. That kind of looked like a line, almost, where it was not attached. I seen that, and the first thing that popped into my head was ‘did he just break my arm? Aww I gotta knock his ass out!'”

Hill did what he could to get back in the fight, but the night didn’t go his way. Yet despite a heated build-up, he has no regrets, “because I think it made for a good show.”

He’ll look to put on another good show, and get back in the win column, against Jimmy Crute on Saturday.

Watch the full UFC Vegas 44 media day appearance from Jamahal Hill above. The event takes place this Saturday, December 4, 2021 at the Apex in Las Vegas. More coverage from Wednesday’s media day can be found below.