Light heavyweight gold was on the line in the UFC 300 main event on Saturday, as closing out the historic card, returning former champ Jamahal Hill faced off with reigning 205lb kingpin Alex Pereira.
Hill had never lost his own light heavyweight title, falling to an Achilles tear incurred outside the cage. Pereira, meanwhile, in under ten fights, was on his second UFC title in a second weight class, after conquering middleweight as well.
In a bit of a feeling out process, the pair traded leg kicks early; Hill then went to the body, and fired a right hand over the top. Outside of that, the two lanky fighters had something of a chess match, working to find distance and position, footwork more utilized than anything. Hill did go high with a kick that was blocked, while Pereira targeted the body with a punch.
A kick then landed low on Pereira, who remained stone-faced and refused to take a single second to recover, actually slapping ref Herb Dean’s hands away when he tried to call time. That decision proved to be the right one. A moment later, Alex Pereira sat Jamahal Hill down with a single punch, a left hand. When the ref was too slow to wave things off, a downpour of hammer fists gave him no choice. Hill’s night was over, and “Poatan” had the first defense of his light heavyweight title in violent fashion. On the biggest stage of all.
Official Result: Alex Pereira def. Jamahal Hill by KO, Round 1, 3:14
