With plenty of anticipation around their fight, Jiří Procházka managed to come out on top in a battle of former UFC light heavyweight champions, defeating Jamahal Hill at UFC 311.
After feints and feeling out on both sides, Hill started to work combinations, but Procházka soon found his rhythm and landed power shots, one of which dropped his opponent. The two traded throughout the later portion of the opening frame, but it appeared that the American was tiring from loading up, reaching, and missing his punches.
“Denisa” and “Sweet Dreams” each had their moments in the second round, landing inside and connecting with powerful single punches and combinations, momentum swinging both ways.
But the Czech fan favorite caught Hill at the right moment during the third round, dropping him with a one-two combination, punctuated with a right hand, before finishing things with some ground-and-pound.
Jiří Procházka KOs Jamahal Hill In Back & Forth War At UFC 311
Both of these men came into this fight off unsuccessful title shots against Alex Pereira last year. They are also both former light heavyweight champions who didn’t lose their title in the Octagon.
Procházka defeated Glover Teixeira at UFC 275 to win the 205-pound championship but vacated due to injury. He lost to Pereira twice (at UFC 295 and UFC 303), with a win over Aleksandar Rakić at UFC 300 sandwiched in between.
Hill, meanwhile, defeated Teixeira for the vacated title at UFC 283 but had to relinquish the gold himself due to injury. He lost to Pereira at UFC 300 last April.
