Count Jamahal Hill among those who believe referee Marc Goddard pulled the trigger a little early after Alex Pereira dropped Jiri Prochazka in the UFC 295 main event.
The former light heavyweight champion sat front and center for the fight, and while he felt bad that the fight didn’t have an ideal conclusion, he was also not that impressed by what he saw from Prochazka or Pereira.
“I thought it ended a little early,” said Hill on the UFC 295 post-fight show. “[Prochazka] still had his arms clinched around his waist and things like that. You’ve got to let a champion go out. Jiri is a champion and I feel like he did deserve that respect of letting him try to fight through some adversity and I don’t think he was given that chance fully. But it’s the game.
“All in all, I was just thinking like neither one of these dudes are on my level. Neither one of them. I don’t think they are in any facet of the game and I can’t wait to get back in full health and be able to show that.”
Pereira and Prochazka fought for the belt that Hill relinquished while recovering from surgery to repair a ruptured Achilles’ tendon. Hill said he was guaranteed a shot at the winner of Saturday’s main event.
Regardless of a future fight with Pereira, Hill definitely commended the new champ on his strategy, which centered on abusing Prochazka’s lead leg with brutal kicks. Pereira also survived a takedown from Prochazka before delivering the fight-ending blows that earned him his second UFC title in just seven fights in the promotion.
“I think he did well,” Hill said about Pereira. “I think he came out and he chopped the leg. He got busy on it early. He stayed patient. He showed that you can’t just come out and grab him and take him down and just have that be an easy road to victory.
“He showed a lot of things. He showed he can do what he did at middleweight, at light heavyweight, essentially. It’s exciting. He made me really excited to get back.”
As for Prochazka’s performance, Hill didn’t really see the ex-champ doing anything wrong until he put himself in the wrong place at the wrong time against a lethal striker.
“I didn’t think he looked bad,” Hill said when addressing Prochazka. “I think he was just trying to get comfortable, flowing, doing his natural thing, and he just got caught.
“Alex is a dangerous guy, especially setting up the hook whenever you try to impose yourself and get dangerous trying to pressure him, press him back and things like that. You see what can happen.”
Following the end of the main event, Pereira took the opportunity to not only celebrate his historic win, but turn his attention toward old rival Israel Adesanya, with whom he split a pair of fights in the UFC.
In their previous encounter, Adesanya exacted revenge with a devastating knockout after falling to Peirera three previous times, including their initial meeting in the UFC as well as two kickboxing bouts.
UFC CEO Dana White was not sold on another bout between Adesanya and Pereira and declared Hill the next person in line for the title once he’s healthy.
“I just laughed,” Hill said about Pereira calling out Adesanya. “I’m pretty sure he got a really good check when he fought Izzy, so he probably wants that again. I’m not surprised by it, but you’ve got to deal with me first, bro.”
