Former light heavyweight champion Jamahal Hill has made his first public remarks regarding referee Herb Dean’s non-stoppage at UFC 300.
Hill (12-2 MMA) was returning to action for the first since January 2023 in the headliner of last weekend’s UFC 300 event, where he was looking to reclaim the light heavyweight title, which he never lost, against reigning division champion Alex Pereira (10-2 MMA). ‘Sweet Dreams’ had of course captured the promotion’s vacant light heavyweight championship by defeating Glover Teixeira at UFC 283 but was later forced to vacate the belt after tearing his Achilles tendon.
Unfortunately for Jamahal Hill, things did not go as planned in his comeback fight at UFC 300. ‘Poatan’ was able to drop the American with a big uppercut midway through the opening round and promptly finished the contest with ground and pound. Adding salt to the wound was the fact that just before the fight-ending sequence, referee Herb Dean had attempted to step in and pause the bout for a low blow but was waved off by Pereira who immediately proceeded to drop Hill after enduring the foul.
(via Zuffa LLC)
Some fighters felt the result was slightly controversial, but veteran referee John McCarthy was quick to backup Herb Dean for his actions.
“It is inherently bad for the sport and unbelievably embarrassing to hear people who supposedly know the sport of MMA smear the actions of Herb Dean as if he was responsible for the knockout of Jamahal Hill at UFC 300. Let’s make this as clear as possible for everyone. Herb was perfect in the actions he took in allowing Alex Pereira to call off the timeout for the kick to the groin he took and then keep the action of the fight in motion. The fighter who is fouled by a strike to the groin is in control of how much time they need to take to sufficiently recover from the foul,” John McCarthy wrote on X.
Most recently Jamahal Hill weighed in on the supposed controversy, sharing the following remarks on his YouTube channel:
“A lot of people have a lot (of things to say), I’ve seen the comments about the controversy. People speaking on the stoppage and things like that. After I kicked Alex in the hip, and it appeared to be a low blow. And… I’m just going to say… I’m just going to say is protect yourself at all times. You know? Wow. There were… My feelings on it, hontestly, it don’t matter. A lot of people didn’t like how I sold the fight. Like, they didn’t like the buildup to the fight. They don’t like me personally. So, it’s irrelevant. I just take it as a lesson learned. Just grow from it and understand to protect yourself at all times.”
Jamahal Hill continued:
“I took no damage. Most of the fall was me falling down. I remember everything. I remember looking up, seeing his legs. I remember him coming in, trying to block, trying to reach for the underhook. He was able to land some shots and kind of throw my equilibrium off on the other side, but I was coherent the whole time throughout, for the most part. So, I take this on. We moving forward.”
Despite just being knocked out last weekend, Jamahal Hill already has his next fight booked as he is set to take on Khalil Rountree Jr. (13-5 MMA) at UFC 303 on June 29th.
