Jamahal Hill Can Become The UFC Light Heavyweight Champion
The UFC light heavyweight division is under siege by a group of up-and-coming heavyweights. The leader of the group is Jiri Prochazka who defeated Glover Teixeira at UFC 275 to become the light heavyweight champion. With a strong run as of late, Magomed Ankalaev has put himself on the radar as a future title contender too. The newest member of the group is Jamahal Hill. While Hill has always shown a lot of potential, he validated his spot alongside the elite of the division as he earned a fourth-round TKO victory against Thiago Santos at UFC Vegas 59. This moved his MMA record to 11-1. Despite Prochazka being the champion and Ankalaev’s recent surge, Hill could be the next light heavyweight with gold around his waist.
What Makes Jamahal Hill Special?
Hill has the one trait that is the hardest to learn. Power. Technically, you can work to become a more powerful striker, but that has never been a need for Hill. His knockout power is next level. He can finish just about any fighter with a single strike. He did just that against Johnny Walker. If that is not enough, according to UFC stats, Hill only needed to land four strikes to knock out Jimmy Crute. The power that Hill carries in his hands is different.
Hill is more than a power striker, though. He has a great fight IQ. Power is useless if you are unable to set up or land a powerful strike. Hill excels at finding a big shot and landing it. In his fight with Walker, he slipped a jab and landed a massive straight right. Meanwhile, against Crute, he blasted him with a lead counter hook as Crute rushed in. Hill does not throw haymakers and hope, he is calculated.
Aside from his UFC debut, Hill has taken the judges out of the equation as he has finished every fight, but if he is unable to find a power strike, he can still win. Hill does a good job of controlling the cage and leading with a jab. He also throws at a higher pace than most light heavyweight strikers. This helps him win rounds. Altogether, this gives Hill an exceptional collection of power, pace, and technicality.
What Else Can Jamahal Hill Do?
As we have determined, Hill has a special skill set on the feet; however, other traits have helped him reach this point in his career too. Those can not be ignored. Most importantly, he is a good defensive grappler. Hill did a great job of ensuring that Santos was unable to gain momentum in grappling exchanges. While Santos was able to control Hill against the fence, he was unable to find sustained success on the ground. Santos finished six for 20 on his takedown attempts against Hill. Giving up six takedowns is not great, but making Santos finish takedowns at a 30 percent rate is. Plus, when Hill was taken down, he did not concede position; instead, he worked to get back to his feet. This prevented Santos from dealing damage on the ground.
In addition, Hill has a good chin and a lot of heart. It does not matter how good you are at MMA if you can not take a punch. It is even worse if you quit when the going gets tough. At this point, neither is a concern with Hill. Against Santos, Hill was not perfect on the feet. He got hit hard several times. Specifically, the punch that Santos landed at the end of round one was massive and would have knocked out or knocked down a lot of opponents. Entering round four, Hill and Santos were both tired. Instead of quitting or taking his foot off the gas, Hill chased a finish and was rewarded for that.
Where Can Jamahal Hill Improve?
Hill is not perfect. If he was, he would already be a champion. There are a couple of things that He can do that would take his game to another level. Foremost, he can improve his cardio. Hill was tired going into round four against Santos. Ideally, Hill does not need five rounds of cardio. However, in the future, he may be dragged into deep waters against elite light heavyweights. If he can improve his cardio he will not only improve in the later rounds, but he can continue to fight at a high pace early.
Another small detail that can be improved is defending leg kicks. I would like to see him make small improvements in checking leg kicks, avoiding them, or countering them. This would help him increase his longevity throughout a five-round fight while ensuring he stays ahead on the judges’ scorecards. With that being said, neither of these are massive red flags. He is not terrible in either area but small improvements would elevate his game. Additionally, it is better to be working on these skills than other far more important skills.
What Does Jamahal Hill’s Future Look Like?
The top of the light heavyweight division is in an interesting position. Prochazka may rule the division for a long time, and he is currently looking to defend his belt. He wants a rematch against Teixeira, but Jan Blachowicz is calling for a title shot. On one hand, the UFC may honor the champion’s wishes, but a fight with Blachowicz makes sense. For Hill, he will be included in the ladder portion of decision-making at light heavyweight. Once the UFC determines who will fight for the title, they will then look to book the rest of the division. Teixeira or Blachowicz will fight for the title while the other will sit on the verge of title contention alongside Hill, Ankalaev, and Aleksander Rakic. In a perfect world, those four are paired up with each other. Realistically, Rakic is nursing an ACL tear and will be out for an extended period of time. With all of this in mind, there are way too many moving parts to determine who Hill will fight next. However, we can infer that Hill is likely one win away from a title shot. If the ball does not bounce his way, he may be left fighting someone ranked behind him. That would put him two fights away. Regardless, Hill could get a title fight sooner rather than later. When he gets that opportunity, do not be surprised if Hill leaves with the belt.
