UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira almost committed to an unofficial title rematch with Jamahal Hill.
Tensions rose as the two approached each other with trash talk at the UFC Performance Institute on Thursday.
Hill and Pereira’s history dates back to UFC 300 in April 2024 when the Brazilian knocked out his opponent in the first round to claim the light heavyweight belt.
The bout further cemented Pereira’s legacy in MMA as he earned his second belt in the UFC, his first being at middleweight.
Since then, a potential move to heavyweight for Poatan has been teased as the Brazilian chases the opportunity to become the first fighter in Dana White’s promotion to have won three belts in as many weight classes.
An achievement that would require Pereira to beat arguably the best fighter of all time, Jon Jones – a fight the heavyweight champion has called for instead of Tom Aspinall.
However, the demand for a Hill and Pereira rematch reignited as they clashed at the gym in Las Vegas, which went viral on social media.
Hill approached Pereira with a cautious but friendly fist bump but then the video cut to an amped up conversation with the champion throwing gloves at the floor of his foe.
Speaking of the meeting, Hill said: “Initially when I went up to him it was smooth. It was like ‘Don’t run to heavyweight, we need to run this back.’
“He said something to his translator. His translator said, ‘oh are you still sleeping. Have you woken up?’
“I’m wide awake now, you can get put to sleep for real. Then it went to a fake ass, yeah come get the gloves and go in the cage.
“In which I replied, ‘what the f*** we need gloves for, we are not getting paid right now? I get paid to fight, to put on gloves. We can just throw hands right now.’
He continued: “If I reached over and hit him and we started fighting right there I could possibly lose out on a fight and any opportunities I have left.
“We made a lot of money the first time we fought, so why would I not make a lot of money to knock his ass out the next time?”
UFC 300 is the promotion’s fifth highest gate as it earned $16,508,823 for the fight promotion.
The American has been vocal since his defeat at the hands of Pereira.
At the champion’s most recent defence, finishing Khalil Rountree Jr at UFC 307, Hill was seen ringside yawning in reaction to the entertaining fight.
The 33-year-old also claimed that Pereira used dark arts to defeat him in April. During their fight he signalled to the referee Herb Dean that he was kicked in the groin.
“He takes the angle and closes the distance, and then tells the ref, ‘No, no. I’m good,’” Hill explained.
Pereira then closed the distance right after to land his knockout seconds later.
Jamahal Hill questioned: “Why’d you signal to the ref then in the first place? What was the point of you signaling to the ref in that moment if the kick didn’t hit you low and you didn’t want it stopped?
“Yet you grab low. You signal to the ref to let him know that you got kicked. But all of a sudden, you don’t want the fight to be stopped.”
If the American wants a rematch he must beat Jiri Prochazka at UFC 311 and hope that Pereira retains his belt against his next opponent, most likely Magomed Ankalev.
