What happened to Jamahal Hill? Find out why the ex-UFC light heavyweight champ felt compelled to voluntarily relinquish his title

Jamahal Hill’s rise to fame is among the most extraordinary paths in UFC history.

At just six fights into his professional career, ‘Sweet Dreams’ earned a promotional contract on ‘Dana White’s Contender Series’ in July 2019. Despite experiencing his first career loss against Paul Craig at UFC 263 in June 2021, the 32-year-old American quickly recovered from a dislocated arm and made a comeback with an impressive 48-second knockout win over Jimmy Crute in December of the same year.

The turning point in Hill’s professional journey came during a Fight Night fight with Johnny Walker in February 2022, where he secured a remarkable first-round knockout win.

Following his TKO victory against Thiago Santos, ‘Sweet Dreams’ continued his winning streak by defeating former champion Glover Teixeira at UFC 283 in January. This victory earned him the vacant title. Teixeira, initially scheduled to face champion Jiri Prochazka for the belt in December 2022, was left without an opponent after Prochazka sustained a shoulder injury and had to pull out of the match.

In place of the vacant title bout, the UFC arranged a match between former champion Jan Blachowicz and Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 282 in December. Unfortunately, the fight ended in a split draw, leaving the division without a champion until Hill’s triumph over Teixeira.

What led to Jamahal Hill’s decision to relinquish his light heavyweight title?

Last July, Jamahal Hill publicly declared in a YouTube video that he had suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon and would be willingly giving up his UFC light heavyweight championship title.

“If I had my choice, would I like to give up the belt? No, I wouldn’t. You have to be consistent. I understand, it’s the business. The show must go on. I’m not exempt from that.”

Take a look at the video below featuring Jamahal Hill:

Hill was expected to face Jiri Prochazka in a championship bout in 2023, but those intentions were suddenly abandoned. He appeared to take a cue from ‘BJP’ and made the decision to vacate his title in order to keep the division’s momentum going. Later, Hill revealed that he had actually sustained the injury while playing basketball.

Jamahal Hill aims for redemption at UFC 300

Following Jamahal Hill’s decision to relinquish his title, the light heavyweight division was once again left without a champion. In July of UFC 291, Alex Pereira made his debut in the 205-pound weight class and defeated former champion Jan Blachowicz. To determine the undisputed champion of the division, the UFC arranged a bout between ‘Poatan’ and Jiri Prochazka. Pereira took full advantage of this opportunity and ultimately claimed victory with a second-round TKO at UFC 295 in November.

In the year 2024, ‘Sweet Dreams’ is getting ready to face the current champion in an attempt to reclaim his title. This highly anticipated fight will be the main attraction of the historic UFC 300 pay-per-view event, scheduled to be held on April 13 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.