Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty ImagesThe UFC light heavyweight championship stayed with Alex Pereira at UFC 300 with a first-round TKO win over Jamahal Hill to close out the landmark event from Las Vegas.
UFC @ufcEasy day in the office for <a href="https://twitter.com/AlexPereiraUFC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AlexPereiraUFC</a> 😮💨<br><br>He gets the first round TKO to retain his LHW belt! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/UFC300?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#UFC300</a> <a href="https://t.co/7Qbx3xB7GE">pic.twitter.com/7Qbx3xB7GE</a>
Once again Pereira used his superior striking and one-punch power to put someone away.
Hill landed a kick on the beltline. Referee Herb Dean went to check if he had been hit below the belt but Poatan waved him off just before clipping Hill with a left hook, flooring him and following up with strikes on the ground to end the fight early.
There was no shortage of praise and excitement over Pereira's latest masterpiece:
Daniel Cormier @dc_mmaThis guy man! Unbelievable what Alex Perreira has done! UFC 300 absolutely delivered! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/UFC300?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#UFC300</a>
Shaheen Al-Shatti @shaunalshattiAlex Pereira's updated UFC résumé: <br><br>- 8 fights <br>- 7 wins <br>- 5 knockouts <br>- 4 title bouts <br>- 2 belts <br>- 1 title defense<br><br>Enjoy this, folks. One of the most remarkable and unique UFC runs we'll ever see. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/UFC300?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#UFC300</a> <a href="https://t.co/lOJYlZYFg4">pic.twitter.com/lOJYlZYFg4</a>
Aaron Bronsteter @aaronbronsteterPereira's coach Plinio Cruz told me on Wednesday that Alex Pereira's game had stepped up to the next level during this camp. He said "watch, you'll see".<br><br>I saw.
The win gives the light heavyweight division a little bit of stability. The weight class has been marked by turbulence since Jon Jones left the division to pursue the heavyweight crown. Pereira is now just the second fighter to successfully defend the belt since Bones vacated it in 2020.
Since then, five different fighters have held the belt including Hill. The now-defeated challenger won the belt in January of 2023 with a unanimous decision win over Glover Teixeira but vacated it due to an Achilles injury.
That opened the door for Pereira to become a two-division champion when he moved up from middleweight to take on Jiří Procházka at UFC 295.
The 36-year-old isn't looking to sit back and take things easy now either. He has his eyes set on UFC 301 which is set to take place in just a few weeks on May 4 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The Brazilian would love to put the belt on the line in his home country.
"I can definitely, absolutely fight at UFC 301," he said in an interview with Tom Taylor of Bleacher Report. "Everything will be fine, as long as I don't have injuries. If I leave this fight [with Hill] injury free, I'll use this training camp to fight on that card against anybody the UFC puts in front of me."
That's a really quick turnaround time, but if the post-fight medicals were to somehow work out there are a few options that would make sense.
Magomed Ankalaev would have made sense as a title challenger this time but the card was too close to Ramadan. It's unclear if he'd be willing to take on a short-notice bout.
If the timing doesn't work out then Jiri Prochazka could also be an option if they are medically cleared and available. Prochazka picked up a win over Aleksandar Rakic on the undercard.
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