Jamahal Hill will have to give up his title due to an injury. He may be out for the remainder of the year after injuring his Achilles tendon.
‘Sweet Dreams’ broke the news in an exclusive video on his YouTube page recently. Hill was expected to face former titleholder and MMA fan favorite Jiri Prochazka, who vacated the championship last year after suffering a devastating shoulder injury.
After competing in Dana White’s Contender Series, Jamahal Hill progressed through the rankings. Furthermore, he is the only competitor from the show to have earned a divisional championship in the UFC. At UFC 283, he fought veteran Glover Teixeira to capture the vacant light heavyweight championship. He will, however, have to take a break for a bit.
In a recent video uploaded on YouTube, Jamahal Hill became upset when recounting the specifics of his injuries. He also mentioned how ironic it was that he earned the championship opportunity due to Jiri Prochazka’s injury.
Jamahal Hill shares emotional video where he vacates the Light Heavyweight Championship belt due to injury pic.twitter.com/Uo4CItPDBc
— Mircea (@MMAMircea) July 14, 2023
The former champion vacated the title to allow the division to progress, while others battled for it in his absence. Jamahal Hill stated that he intends to do the same.
“He [Jiri Prochazka] gave up the belt and allowed others to not hold the division up, to keep the division moving forward, to keep entertaining, to make sure the people had a champion. And I’ll do the same.” Jamahal stated in his announcement. (h/t via- MMA News)
What lies ahead for the UFC light heavyweight division after Jamahal Hill vacates the belt?
There were rumors that Hill might defend his belt against Prochazka later this year, but ‘Denisa’ was not ready. It appears that we will soon have another new light heavyweight champion.
This comes only days before Alex Pereira’s UFC 291 light heavyweight debut against former champion Jan Blachowicz.
Pereira will undoubtedly seek to make an immediate mark in the new division, and what better way to do it than against a previous champion? ‘Poatan’ will be hoping that his training with Glover Teixeira will give him an advantage after Teixeira defeated Blachowicz for the light heavyweight championship at UFC 267.
It is only speculated that ‘Poatan’ may get the title opportunity against Blachowicz as their rivalry could be an amazing treat for the fans. Given that ‘Poatan’ is also a previous champion, although in the middleweight class, would the UFC put its title on the line for the fight? Only time and UFC management know what could unfold.
