Alex Pereira Retains UFC Light Heavyweight Title with First Round Knockout of Jamahal Hill

Alex Pereira is keeping his title…

The 36-year-old Brazilian professional mixed martial artist and former kickboxer knocked out former champ Jamahal Hill on Saturday to retain the UFC light heavyweight title in the main event of UFC 300 — one of the biggest events in promotion history — at T-Mobile Arena.

Alex Pereira, The finish came at 3 minutes, 14 seconds of the first round after one of Pereira’s trademark left hooks.

The finish will live on highlight reels forever.

Hill kicked Pereira low, prompting referee Herb Dean to step in and try to pause the fight. Pereira held up his right hand, stopping the official from intervening. Pereira then blasted Hill with the left hook and followed with violent punches on the ground.

“I was gauging the distance and timing,” Pereira said through an interpreter. “Everything went perfect.”

Pereira said the groin kick hurt him a little, but he was just starting to figure out that distance and didn’t want to have to reset if the bout was paused. UFC CEO Dana White lauded Pereira not only for the performance but also the style points he gained for how it ended.

“He got hit in the groin,” White said. “He was like, ‘Nuh uh,’ [to Dean] and then knocks [Hill] out. … That was incredibly gangster.”

Pereira landed 24 of 30 significant strikes, according to ESPN Stats & Information.

He has landed 63% of his significant strikes in UFC, which is the fourth-best mark in the promotion’s history. Pereira has eight knockouts in 10 career wins.

Hill relinquished the title last summer after rupturing his left Achilles tendon in a pickup basketball game. Pereira won the vacant belt by knocking out former champ Jiří Procházka in November at UFC 295 in New York.

Coming in, ESPN had Pereira ranked No. 3 in its pound-for-pound rankings.

Afterward, Pereira said he wanted to get right back in the Octagon and fight at UFC 301 on May 4 in his native Brazil. Pereira said he would like to do so at heavyweight, which would be his third weight class in UFC.

“I want this fight,” Pereira said. “I’m not hurt. Nothing happened.”

That wasn’t completely true. White said Pereira suffered a broken toe while training for the fight.

“I had to just push through,” Pereira said.

White said Pereira should probably pump the brakes on a move up in weight.

“The heavyweight division is nasty,” White said. “I don’t know if that’s the right move for him. He looked damn good tonight in the division he’s in.”

Pereira (10-2) is the quickest fighter to win two UFC titles in two divisions (seven fights). The Connecticut resident knocked out Israel Adesanya to win the UFC middleweight title in 2022 before dropping the title back to Adesanya last year.

Pereira is a former two-division champion in Glory Kickboxing and a Hall of Famer in that promotion.

Hill (12-1, 1 NC) had won four straight coming in. The Chicago native, who fights out of Michigan, beat Glover Teixeira, Pereira’s coach and training partner, to win the UFC light heavyweight title at UFC 283 in January 2023. Hill, 32, was the first Dana White’s Contender Series alum to win a UFC championship.

“I don’t let this belt go to my head,” Pereira said. “I have to go in here and win this belt every time to be champion.”

Alex Pereira Becomes Fastest MMA Fighter to Two Championships in UFC History

Alex Pereira is making swift championship moves…

The 36-year-old Brazilian professional mixed martial artist and former kickboxer has claimed the vacant UFC light heavyweight championship after stopping Jiri Prochazka via TKO at 4:08 of the second round on Saturday night in the main event of UFC 295 at Madison Square Garden.

Alex Pereira,Pereira, who has been in the UFC for just two years, has now won championships in two weight classes.

Pereira is the ninth two-division champion in UFC history. He was previously the UFC middleweight champion earlier this year.

Pereira is the fastest to two championships in UFC history, doing it in just seven UFC fights. No other fighter has won titles at middleweight and light heavyweight.

“It’s incredible,” UFC CEO Dana White said in the post-fight news conference. “I don’t know about an all-time great [yet]. But it’s incredibly impressive what he’s done in a short amount of time.”

Pereira dropped Prochazka with a left hook with Pereira’s back against the cage. Prochazka was clearly hurt, and Pereira fell right into mount, landing punches and elbows in the process. Prochazka seemed to still be fighting back, but referee Marc Goddard stopped the bout. Some fans booed at the stoppage.

“I’m not surprised after the first left hook,” Pereira said in his post-fight interview. “He fell down on my legs, and I looked for the finish. I don’t think it was a bad stoppage.”

Prochazka said he agreed with the stoppage.

“I think it was right,” he said. “I was out. But you know, I will never stop.”

The UFC light heavyweight title has had a rough stretch since Jon Jones, the division’s all-time best fighter, voluntarily gave up the championship before moving to heavyweight. Perhaps Pereira will bring stability.

Prochazka vacated the belt in late 2022 due to a severe shoulder injury. Jamahal Hill then won it by beating Glover Teixeira in January. But Hill tore an Achilles tendon in July and had to relinquish the title.

ESPN had Pereira ranked No. 2 in the division coming into Saturday.

Afterward, Pereira called out Israel Adesanya to move up to light heavyweight and face him. Pereira and Adesanya have split their two meetings in the UFC, and Pereira has beaten him twice in kickboxing. It’s more likely Hill will be next for Pereira when Hill recovers.

Adesanya, who loss the middleweight title to Sean Strickland at UFC 293 in Australia, said last month that he is “not going to fight for a long time.”

“He doesn’t seem motivated and I think it’s a fight everybody would like to see,” Pereira said of Adesanya.

Pereira dropped Prochazka with a leg kick in the first round. Prochazka came back with a takedown late in the first and did some damage with elbows. Pereira continued to work the leg kicks in the second round, leading into the finish.

“He knew it. He kept kicking that leg,” White said. “And that leg was going to be a problem as the fight went on. The kicking power. The punching power. He moves like a middleweight. He’s pretty nasty.”

Pereira (9-2), a training partner of Teixeira, is the only fighter to headline back-to-back UFC cards at Madison Square Garden. The Brazilian-born fighter, who lives and trains in Connecticut, knocked out Adesanya to win the UFC middleweight title at MSG in November 2022.

Pereira is a former two-division Glory Kickboxing champion and was recently inducted into that promotion’s Hall of Fame. He is now 3-0 at MSG.

“It’s my house here now,” Pereira said of the Garden. “How do I get the key?”

Prochazka (29-4-1) had won 13 straight fights, including his first three in the UFC by finish. The Czech Republic native beat Teixeira to win the UFC light heavyweight title in June 2022. Prochazka, 31, is the former light heavyweight champion of Japan’s Rizin promotion.

Thiago Santos Signs with Professional Fighters League

Thiago Santos is headed to the PFL

The 38-year-old Brazilian mixed martial artist and former UFC title challenger has signed an exclusive deal with the Professional Fighters League (PFL), according to promotion president Ray Sefo.

Thiago Santos Santos will make his PFL debut in 2023 when he competes in the promotion’s season format with a tournament championship purse of $1 million. Santos will fight in the 205-pound division.

“We are very excited to bring in Thiago Santos to the PFL light heavyweight division,” Sefo told ESPN. “He is known throughout the MMA world as a guy who delivers exciting fights, and I’m looking forward to seeing his elite knockout power up close.”

Santos most recently appeared in a UFC Fight Night main event against Jamahal Hill in August, losing via fourth-round TKO. Six of his past seven appearances in UFC were in main events, including a failed title shot against then-champion Jon Jones at UFC 239 in July 2019. Santos lost that fight via split decision.

He was nearing the end of his UFC contract, and the two sides ultimately decided to part ways. Santos had fought exclusively in UFC since 2013.

“It was an amicable separation with the UFC,” Santos’ manager Alex Davis told ESPN. “Thiago is very grateful for everything the UFC did for him, and he’s very grateful toward the PFL for signing with him. He’s looking forward to winning a million dollars.”

Fighting out of Brazil, Santos came close to dethroning Jones in their five-round title fight despite suffering a serious knee injury during the bout. He has struggled to regain his old form since the injury, suffering losses to Glover TeixeiraAleksandar RakicMagomed Ankalaev and Hill. Nevertheless, he was still ranked No. 9 in UFC’s light heavyweight division.

The 2022 PFL finals are in November. The light heavyweight final will feature two former UFC veterans in Robert Wilkinson and Omari Akhmedov.

Rafael dos Anjos’ Fight Against Rafael Fiziev Moved to UFC 272 in March

Rafael dos Anjos’ return is being postponed slightly…

The 37-year-old Brazilian professional mixed martial artist and former UFC lightweight champion will now face off against Rafael Fiziev in the lightweight co-main event of UFC 272 on March 5 in Las Vegas, according to ESPN.

Rafael dos Anjosdos Anjos was initially scheduled to take on Fiziev for the UFC Fight Night headliner on February 19 in Las Vegas.

Fiziev reportedly had a visa delay, leading to the change. dos Anjos vs. Fiziev will remain a five-round fight, per sources.

The new UFC Fight Night main event on February 19 will be a five-round light heavyweight bout between Johnny Walker and Jamahal Hill, sources said.

Walker vs. Hill was initially scheduled as the UFC Fight Night co-main event.

dos Anjos (30-13) has not fought since a split-decision win over Paul Felder in November 2020.

The Brazilian-born fighter, who lives in California, moved back to lightweight for that bout after three years at welterweight. dos Anjos had dropped four of five fights against top 170-pound fighters before moving back down to 155, where he was the UFC champ in 2015 and 2016.

Fiziev (11-1) has won five in a row after dropping his UFC debut in 2019. The Kazakhstan-born fighter of Kyrgyzstani descent has won two of his last three fights via knockout, the most recent a third-round spinning wheel kick finish of Brad Riddell in December. Fiziev, 28, is considered one of the top young strikers in MMA.

UFC 272 will be headlined by a welterweight grudge match between former interim welterweight champion Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal, owner of the mythical BMF title.