Despite a big knockout win over the oversized Jared Scoggins at Bellator 272, Josh Hill is the odd man out in next year’s bantamweight grand prix.
The Canadian veteran known as “The Gentleman” was officially announced as an alternate for the tournament after the win against Scoggins, who missed weight for the fight. But Hill’s #7 ranking leaves him on the outside, as the top six in the division, plus Kyoji Horiguchi and champ Sergio Pettis make up the field.
“With Horiguchi coming back, it kind of pushed me out of the tournament, because I’m the next guy according to the rankings,” Hill (21-4) observed following Friday’s card. “So that sucks. Yeah. I want in that sh*t. So if anybody drops out or injuries or anything like that, then I’m the guy.”
Despite being unhappy at being passed over, Hill understands the situation, given this tournament is going with an eight-man field rather than 16, which the featherweight grand prix utilized. “It is a stacked division, so I get it. I don’t know how Gallagher got in before me, that’s my gripe right there. It is what it is. Everybody’s good. It’s a deep division. If it wasn’t so deep, I’d be in it for sure.”
Gallagher, however, is the name Hill selected when asked by Cageside Press who out of the grand prix line-up he’d most want to fight. “I think it’s going to be the same one that every bantamweight is trying to probably get in that tournament. It would be Gallagher. And nothing against him, he’s done a very good job of building his name, and he’s a pretty good fighter. Especially his last fight, he did look much improved. But that would be my first pick for sure, Gallagher.”
Watch the full Bellator 272 post-fight press conference with Josh Hill above. More coverage can be found below.
-
Sergio Pettis
-
Spike Carlyle
-
Jeremy Kennedy
-
Josh Hill
-
Kai Kamaka III
-
Scott Coker
