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Traveling isn’t Jamahal Hill’s favorite thing to do, which is a bit unfortunate given his job. Hill fights for the UFC, which means his days of competing in or near his hometown of Grand Rapids, Michigan, are long over.
A 6-foot-4 light heavyweight brimming with potential, Hill opened his career by fighting his first four times at home. He’s since hit the road, though the pandemic has limited his travel somewhat. In his last seven bouts, he’s fought four times in Las Vegas, as well as in Glendale, Arizona; Miami and Raleigh, North Carolina.
The one commonality is that pretty much everywhere he’s gone, he’s won.
On Saturday at Apex, he’ll be in the main event of UFC Vegas 48 against Johnny Walker. That card was to be headlined by a fantastic lightweight bout between Rafael dos Anjos and Rafael Fiziev, but because Fiziev was having trouble getting his visa in time, it was pushed to UFC 272 next month.
That elevated Hill into his first UFC main event, where he is a -250 favorite at BetMGM to defeat Walker. Walker is +200.
Hill is the father of six, and brought one of his sons with him to watch Saturday’s show, the first time he’s done so, as a birthday gift of sorts. But it’s also had a benefit for Hill himself.
“I love being around my kids,” Hill said. “I have travel anxiety. Anytime a fight comes up and I have to leave, I get anxiety, so having him here helps.”
Hill hasn’t needed much help so far in his career. He’s 9-1 with his only loss to Paul Craig. Craig caught Hill in an armbar and when Hill didn’t tap, the elbow was dislocated. Craig was firing punches at Hill, who couldn’t properly defend himself with the injury and the fight was halted.
But that’s the only blip on an otherwise stellar beginning to his career. The loss to Craig was sandwiched between KO wins over Ovince Saint Preux and Jimmy Crute, which speaks volumes to Hill’s development and where he stands in the division.
The win over Crute pushed him to No. 12 in the light heavyweight rankings, two behind Walker. There is a great significance in the bout for him because a win would put him in the Top 10 in all likelihood and that’s when lives can change. Start fighting with the big dogs — and winning — and a fighter’s life and career takes on a new tone.
Grand Rapids is known for the quality of fighters it’s produced, though most of them have been boxers. Among the greats from Grand Rapids are International Boxing Hall of Famers Floyd Mayweather Jr., Stanley Ketchel and James Toney as well as ex-heavyweight champion Tony “TNT” Tucker, Roger Mayweather, Floyd Mayweather Sr., Peter Quillin and Buster Mathis Jr.
Hill has the talent to make Grand Rapids known for its MMA fighters, as well.
But he had to overcome the loss to get himself back on track, mentally more than anything else. And he knew there would be plenty of skeptics ready to tear him down once he lost.
When asked if he had doubts before he faced Crute, he was blunt as could be.
“Hell yeah,” he said. “There’s no question. It was a thing. There was doubt. Absolutely, nobody had me winning my next fight. Everybody was against me. They couldn’t see me doing anything. Even now, it’s crazy, it’s a weird thing the way people view fighters, their skills and what their capabilities are.
“If you see a basketball player shoot 0-for-10 from 3-point [range] — say Steph Curry went 0-for-10 from 3-point — people’d be like, ‘Ah, he shouldn’t shoot.’ But just because you slip up and have a bad performance in certain areas doesn’t mean you can’t do things.”
Hill can do plenty. Since earning a UFC contract on “Dana White’s Contender Series” in 2019, he’s proven to be among the sport’s best prospects. And he’s regularly put on entertaining bouts.
Hill is impressed with Walker, who a few years ago, joined the UFC off the “Contender Series,” won three in a row by first-round KO and was quickly proclaimed the UFC’s next big thing. Walker was brought back to reality by going 1-3 in his next four, but Hill isn’t fooled.
He knows he’s got a stiff challenge in front of him.
“He’s big and he’s explosive,” Hill said of Walker. “Most of the dudes that are talking about him, he’d knock the f*** out. What’s the point of talking like that? But whatever. … I just gotta come in and do me, lock in like I know I can and show my skills. I think my skills are just levels above.”