Jamahal Hill shared that he was aware that the UFC was considering other bouts for UFC 300 before he was offered to headline it against Alex Pereira.
According to Hill, the deal to fight the new champ was offered just a day before the executive shared it on social media. Needless to say, the promotion was trying to rush the announcement of the event, which is just less than two months away. And unsurprisingly, the Pereira vs. Hill fight was not the first option that the company considered.
As explained by White, the company was actually pushing for a welterweight title defense for Leon Edwards, who was given three names to fight. The executive shared that the Briton had agreed to fight any of the fighters, but the company later decided to push the Pereira vs. Hill. According to the executive, there was no issue involving money in arranging the fight with Edwards, saying, “It was all about timing.” White, nonetheless, didn’t specify what ultimately pushed the company to scrap the Edwards fight.
For Hill, nonetheless, it was just a matter of preference for UFC, noting it was actually the “first option” of the company.
“Basically, the situation was they needed a main event,” shared Hill with Sportsnet. “They had some things lined up but they would have preferred it (to) be me and Alex. It was the first option; it’s what they really wanted. The people definitely wanted it; that’s what people have been asking me for months now, all week. Yeah, it made sense.”
The fight will mark Pereira’s first title defense for his light heavyweight belt, while it will be Hill’s comeback fight after recovering from his ruptured Achilles tendon injury. The match apparently came on short notice, but it didn’t stop “Sweet Dreams” from feeling the excitement of getting near the belt again and competing against a powerful opponent.
“I’m looking forward to the challenge,” Hill said. “The challenge of Alex has become huge. He’s done incredible things – two-division champion in the UFC in seven fights, quickest to ever do it. So I just want to get in there and see how I match up against him.”
