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Alex Pereira believes it’s good Jamahal Hill sought advice from Israel Adesanya.
On Saturday, Pereira puts his light heavyweight title on the line against Hill in the main event of UFC 300. It’s Hill’s first fight since rupturing his Achilles last year, and while many question whether the ex-champ is coming back too soon, Pereira isn’t one of them.
“I definitely don’t have expectations of him just sitting out, not training because of an injury,” Pereira said through his translator at the UFC 300 media day when asked about Hill’s condition and injury layoff. “If he signed the contract to fight this fight, he did for a reason. He knows the test he has ahead of himself, so I’m very aware of it.”
Hill seemingly agrees. The former UFC light heavyweight champion unequivocally believes he’s a better striker than the Glory Kickboxing champion, and he intends to prove it on Saturday.
To give himself an edge, Hill recently got some help from Adesanya. Pereira and Adesanya have a long history together; Pereira holds three wins over Adesanya in kickboxing and MMA. Adesanya knocked Pereira in their rematch last year, and recently said Hill will do so on Saturday.
When asked about his former rival and future foe teaming up, “Poatan” had a cheeky response for both men.
“I think it was good,” Pereira said. “Actually, it was the best thing he could have done for himself, because if he had went and sparred with Israel Adesanya, it would have been a big frustration for him, especially for the fact that I beat him so many times.”
If Pereira can back up his talk and beat Hill on Saturday, he will add another accomplishment to his already-sterling resume: a successful UFC title defense. And while some fans might want him to try to move up to heavyweight to be the UFC’s first-ever three division champ, for now, Pereira’s goal is to keep stacking up title defenses.
“There is no plan.” Pereira said. “The next step is to keep defending the title, unlimited times. I’m not the kind of guy to call out opponents because I’ll fight anybody. I’m the champ. I’ll keep defending it.”
UFC 300 takes place this Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
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