A battle of former UFC light heavyweight champions will take place at January’s UFC 311.
Jiri Prochazka (30-5-1) will face Jamahal Hill (12-2, 1NC) at the event, UFC officials announced on Saturday. The match-up was revealed during the UFC Macau post-fight show. Prochazka also announced the booking on social media, displaying some comic book themed artwork to promote the fight.
Prochazka is currently ranked #2 in the UFC’s light heavyweight division, with Hill sitting one spot behind at #3. Both men are coming off loses to the same opponent: 205lb champ Alex Pereira.
Czech Republic’s Prochazka has actually lost to “Poatan” twice, setbacks that sandwich a win against Aleksandar Rakic at UFC 300. He’s also a student of Glover Teixeira, the man Jiri Prochazka won gold from in 2022. Prochazka would vacate the title due to injury, after which Hill would claim it in a fight against Teixeira, only to himself vacate due to injury, leading to Pereira vs. Prochazka I.
Hill was supposed to have faced off against Carlos Ulberg at UFC 303 this past summer, but was forced out of the fight due to injury.
UFC 311 takes place at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California on January 18, 2024. While Islam Makhachev vs. Arman Tsarukyan has been rumored to be attached, no official main event announcement has been made. The following match-ups have been reported for the first UFC PPV of 2024:
- Jiri Prochazka vs. Jamahal Hill
- Jailton Almeida vs. Serghei Spivac
- Rinya Nakamura vs. Muin Gafurov
- Johnny Walker vs. Bogdan Guskov
- Zachary Reese vs. Sedriques Dumas
- Raoni Barcelos vs. Payton Talbott
- Ricky Turcios vs. Bernardo Sopaj
- Grant Dawson vs. Carlos Diego Ferreira
- Karol Rosa vs. Ailin Perez
