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The UFC light heavyweight champion has a name, and that name is Jamahal Hill.
That’s by virtue of his unanimous decision victory, 50-44 on all scorecards, in the UFC 283 headliner Saturday night over Glover Teixeira in Rio de Janeiro to earn the vacant prize belt.
And that’s by virtue of the UFC’s previous attempt to create a champion six weeks ago not going as planned, with Magomed Ankalaev rallying late to manage a split draw with Jan Blachowicz, leaving nobody in the UFC wearing the crown.
And that only came about by virtue of Jiri Prochazka — the last guy the UFC considered to be its champion at 205 pounds — opting to relinquish his belt in the wake of a shoulder injury, allowing the division to move on without him.
And move on it did … eventually.
Clearly, having a champion of the weight class was a massive priority for the UFC. Here’s the rub: The UFC doesn’t care particularly if the best fighter in the weight class is its champion. The best of two fighters on any given night the promotion needs a championship fight will do just fine.
On Saturday, Hill was the very best at 205 pounds competing at Jeunesse Arena, 100 percent. He had the look of a future champ from the moment he made his UFC debut. That he now represents the UFC as its champion is not to say a substandard mixed martial artist holds that distinction. But the fact is Hill was widely considered a mid-to-late top 10 fighter in the division.
