Jamahal Hill Injury: UFC 300 Star’s Nasty Accident That Led to His First UFC Defeat

Jamahal Hill is eager to reclaim his light heavyweight title. ‘Sweet Dreams’, who won the title in style back in January 2022 after mauling Glover Teixeira at their UFC 283 clash, honorably vacated the title last year after suffering a ruptured Achilles’ tendon.

And he is gearing up to face champion Alex Pereira for the 205-pound title that he thinks rightfully belongs to him since he didn’t lose it in the octagon. In fact, the only loss Hill has suffered in his career came under unfortunate circumstances.

Why did Jamahal Hill lose to Paul Craig?

Jamahal Hill was called to Dana White’s Contender Series back in July 2019 after only five professional fights owing to his impressive and dynamic striking and knockout power. Hill was at his violent best and managed to knockout his opponent in the third round and won a place on the UFC roster.

He took to the promotion like a fish to water and made his way to the top of the light heavyweight division by 2022. Except for one little blip. The Chicago native faced Paul Craig in a light heavyweight bout, which would be a bit he would always remember, but for the wrong reasons.

In the first round, Craig caught ‘Sweet Dreams’ in a triangle choke. Despite his best efforts, the choke failed to be escaped. During the struggle, Hill dislocated his left elbow, and went on to lose the bout in the first round itself. Speaking about the injury after the bout, Hill explained what happened during the melee.

“It’s not as bad as it looked. There’s no break. My elbow just dislocated pretty badly but they were able to pop it back in and the doctor said it’s rock solid. It’s doing all the movement that it needs to, it’s just going to be sore for a while. I’ll follow up with my doctor when I land back at home and we’re gonna go from there. Hopefully I can be back in real soon,” Hill said.

While the loss certainly would have bruised Hill’s ego, on account of it being the first loss in his career, and that too against an opponent who was not a top contender, it did not deter him and he went on to become a UFC champion only three fights later. And he is walking into his UFC 300 bout with a chip on shoulder and looking to become a two-time champion.

Jamahal Hill feels disrespected ahead of UFC 300

Most predictions favor Alex Pereira to win his UFC 300 main event bout against Jamahal Hill. In fact, many fans and analysts think Jamahal Hill has ‘no chance’ against ‘Poatan’! This of course, has rubbed Hill the wrong way, who will go into the bout eager to prove his critics wrong.

“Some of it is just flat-out disrespect. It’s a complete disregard for who I am and what I’ve done, what I’ve put on the line even by doing this. There’s some annoyance, there’s a chip there. I want to go in and show who I truly am at my peak form. I believe at my peak form, there’s nobody close to me” the former champion said.

Given both men’s dynamic striking and willingness to trade heavy shots in the pocket, there is a very good chance that someone is getting knocked out in their bout. With ‘Poatan’ looking to cement his legacy and Hill coming into the bout with something to prove, their clash will almost definitely be an explosive affair. What are our predictions for UFC 300?