Jamal Hill and Glover Teixeireand finally sorted out the situation with the medium-heavy belt (up to 93 kg). At the start of 2022, Teixeira was the champion. In June, he lost the title to Jiří Prochazka, who, preparing for a rematch, injured his shoulder so badly that he himself resigned his league title. Magomed Ankalaev and Jan Blachowicz fought for the vacant title, but the bout ended in a draw. Then Teixeira and Hill won the title fight. The American was on a three-knockout streak, only lost once in 14 fights, but still wasn’t a very famous fighter.
Moreover, the UFC 283 tournament was held in Brazil, and the public encountered hostile Jamal. Teixeira didn’t help: Hill, 31, beat the 43-year-old opponent for all five rounds. All the judges gave Hill five rounds, one of which was won by the American fighter with a score of 10-8.
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Nikita Krylov is currently ranked eighth at the same weight and shares what the title fight was like through the eyes of a potential belt contender:
– How do you fight?
– I noticed right away that Hill has a great sense of distance and sits well on his front leg. He consistently leveled all of Glover’s attacks with a gap and pushed in response, great use of limb length. Hill got his front leg out, he didn’t fall on it, constantly working from a distance. It seems that the leg was open for the passage, Teixeira was able to catch it several times, but he rarely managed to translate. In my opinion, if it was treated with low kicks, if this support was removed, something could be changed in the fight. Overall, there was a sense of quality work from Hill, as even when he rocked Teixeira, he didn’t break, but continued to keep his distance for punches.
As for Teixeira, there was a clash of styles, because Hill has good boxing and good timing, and if Teixeira came in, he came in with a streak, started forward, hit 3-5 punches and that Wasn’t hard for Hill to evade those attacks, if only Teixeira mixed up the arms and legs more it would have created more discomfort for Hill. It’s just not in Teixeira’s style, he punches with his hands, drives forward and Hill, on counter puncher style, was comfortable leveling him. The whole fight went like this.
– Two thoughts: Hill has become the champion who can lose in the next fight and most likely won’t be a favorite. The second from here is that you now have one of the most equal divisions in terms of level.
– Everything is pretty much the same. The top is pretty tight and I don’t know how long Hill will hold the title. Now there are enough fighters who will be stylistically less comfortable for him than the same Teixeira. Teixeira is good in many ways, but when the styles clash, whoever has the most variety in performance wins.
– Prokhazka or Ankalaev. Who is the most dangerous for Hill?
– I think Ankalaev. He is also left-handed and feels the distance very well, while Prochazka attacks more openly, misses, and Hill as a counter-puncher will be more uncomfortable for him than the same Glover. Whoever talks to the opponent first will be closer to victory, so in the fight with Prohazka Hill, it seems to me, if not a favorite, then at least with equal odds. And Ankalaev is unlikely to have any problems with Hill. It seems to me that he will rework on the points, will not let him strike on his own. Hill fights right handed in most of his fights, he won’t be as comfortable with a southpaw. So I would name Ankalaev as the favorite in this fight.
What did you know about Hill before this fight?
– I saw that he was quite stubborn – it even showed in the battle with Craig: it was the only defeat he had. Craig nearly broke his arm there, but Hill kept finishing until the triangle closed completely.
He has a good splash from his left hand, he throws it in a timely manner and can meet it. And in the fight with Thiago Santos – it seemed to me that Santos was next level, that he would win, but he couldn’t break Hill.
How would you personally fight Hill?
– The fighters have a certain common level: a set of skills, well-established indicators. And there’s functional training, which can change from fight to fight. And it’s interesting for me to check out all the guys in that aspect: pick up the pace, get to where not many people like to fight, max heart rate. I would push. But not so frankly, because he manages to meet. And, as I said, he mixed the techniques: he hid kicks behind punches, beat the front leg, on which he frankly sat, in order to rebound. It’s such a boxing habit, but I don’t know how strong his legs are to withstand attacks.
In pure boxing, it will probably be difficult for me with everyone, but if you mix arms, legs and add wrestling, then there is the very zest that I would like to put forward in MMA. The more you mix, the more likely you are to have an attack due to which you take either an episode or an entire fight.
– You fought Glover Teixeira, a man who spent the most powerful segment of his career as an adult. How do you remember him?
“He’s a tough fighter and he understands what he’s doing well. I think he loves what he’s doing. It seems to me that without love for his job, it’s hard to reach such a level at a such age. He probably got hardened like steel in the battles, because I don’t know who else would have fought with so many top fighters. As soon as our weight rating changed, it always stayed there .
– With what sincerity do the fighters say: was it an honor to share a cage with him? You once said that you play a rather selfish sport and it seems that people think of certain fights “it was and it was”…
– I load all my background in my head and more often than not I’m happy for my opponents, no matter how our fight ends. And when they win, it warms my heart. As for the “honor”…I would say I’m happy every time I step into the octagon and I’m grateful to everyone who shared it with me. The fight with Glover is for me a fight that I remember with good impressions. Good job, I didn’t have enough and just left a notch where you can add a bit and do something better.
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After the fight with Hill, Teixera announced his retirement. He started fighting in 2002, after the first four fights he had a 2-2 record, but then reached the title fight with Jon Jones and became the champion, beating Jan Blachowicz in 2021.
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Source : MatchTV
I am Ashley Ortiz and I am a professional journalist working for Athletistic. My specialty is in sports journalism, particularly boxing. I have written articles for some of the most renowned publications on the subject, and my work has been featured across both print and digital media platforms.
