The UFC’s light heavyweight division finally gets back on track this Saturday night. What better way for it to do so than the UFC 300 main event?

Everyone loved the coined “golden age” of MMA, which is generally agreed upon as the time we saw the 205-pound title hot-potato’d around from legend to legend from 2007 to 2011. That was, of course, until that pesky Jon Jones fella came along and decided he’d just beat everybody for the following nine years. Talk about an unmatched level of arrogance.

All jokes aside, Jones’ eventual departure from the division in 2020 threw the title landscape into an absurdly comical tailspin. It’s once again been a revolving door of champions atop 205, but not necessarily in the same manner as pre-Jones, thanks to scoring disasters and the injury bug taking out two of the recent five champions. One of those was Dana White Contender Series alum Jamahal Hill, who challenges the current champion Alex Pereira in the historic headliner this weekend.

When Hill became the champion with a unanimous decision win over Glover Teixeira at UFC 283 in January of last year, Pereira was the middleweight title holder, gearing up to have a rematch with his rival Israel Adesanya. The fourth overall combat sports clash for the pair of legendary strikers was Adesnya’s redemptive moment, as he snatched back his title with a crazy second-round knockout. “The Last Stylebender” has aided Hill with some tips in preparation for the matchup, and believes the tools are in place to reclaim the belt he never lost.

“Two of my friends, two of my peoples,” Adesanya started on his YouTube channel. “This fight, Alex is gonna try and kick Jamahal’s legs. I don’t think that’s a f****** secret. That’s his thing. Jamahal knows this.

“Jamahal just — I don’t think is scared. Jamahal has got knockout power, scary knockout power, as well. Alex can get knocked out. Something Jamahal said which I felt — I don’t know if it was overlooked or not — but he said, look, who is someone Alex Pereira has just outclassed in a fight? Not just knocked out, but like outclassed in a fight until he knocks them out.

“This is the reason why when I was fighting him, the fourth time, and people were like, ‘Oh, you’re gonna be 0-4 against him,’” he continued. “Nah, I can beat this guy. First time, I thought I beat him. Second time, I was beating him until he caught me. Third time, I was beatin’ his ass then he got me. I’m like, I know how to beat this guy. Jamahal made that point, saying he’s beatable and we all know this. I’ve proven it.”

Thanks to the history between Adesanya and Pereira, there probably aren’t any other fighters better to ask for advice to help against the opposing competitor. They’ve felt practically every strike in each’s toolboxes at this point, and for Adesanya, the leg kick of Pereira is one he specifically finds to be the tricky one needing evasion.

Although Hill is the betting underdog against “Poatan,” he’s been nearly flawless in his 14-fight career with only a single loss (12-1, 1 NC). More often than not, “Sweet Dreams” hasn’t needed to drag out fights as his striking acumen is well-capable of putting opponents away. With five rounds of fight ahead of him, Hill is no stranger in MMA, having gone to championship rounds on three occasions, twice in his most recent appearances.

Pereira’s lone championship-round experience came when he claimed 185-pound gold off Adesanya in round five of their UFC 281 clash in November 2022. Ultimately, Adesanya doesn’t expect the light heavyweight title tilt to make it that far.

“Five rounds, so it’s gonna be a slow start in the first round. They’re gonna figure each other out, get some shots off,” Adesanya said. “Alex is going to be throwing the leg kick, and Jamahal will be finding his jab and trying to get his fist to Alex’s head. Not just the chin. Remember with Johnny Walker, bro. That was probably a (puts fist to forehead). Bro, he shuts people off. F***, that was insane.

“I’m gonna go Jamahal by KO. I think it’s gonna be in the first two and a half [rounds].”

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TOP STORIES

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Promise. Jamahal Hill warns Alex Pereira if ‘he grabs me, he’s f****** done,’ says when ‘on top of you, I f*** you up’

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VIDEO STEW

MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck previews UFc 300 with Jon Anik.

Fighter vs. Writer with Laura Sanko.

Between the Links (with yours truly).

Sound & Pound.

Embedded 2.

Highlights from all UFC 300 fighters.

The condensed history of the UFC.

Free fights.

It is also PFL fight week...

Holloway All Access.

Final days.

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LISTEN UP

Heck of a Morning. MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck discusses if Jamahal Hill has the most to lose at UFC 300.

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MORNING MUSIC

Go to Twitter, use the #MorningReport hashtag, or find one of my tweets with it, and drop me a jam you’re currently really into. I’ll pick the best one alongside my daily choice and give you a shoutout! You can also share in the comments below — those are just harder to sift through sometimes!

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SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE

Paulo wants his fight.

Art.

The real poster.

Sigs.

They came through.

Countdown.

Meeting.

Sure.

Next up?

Nice jacket.

Whoops.

This and the Leites fight were two of my all-time most frustrating MMA viewing experiences.

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FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Rin Nakai (26-2-1) vs. Aoi Kuriyama (7-5-1); Deep Jewels 45, May 26

Jailton Almeida (20-3) vs. Alexandr Romanov (17-2); UFC 302, June 1

Roman Kopylov (12-3) vs. Cesar Almeida (5-0); UFC 302, June 1

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FINAL THOUGHTS

Was the Sean Strickland fight too short to be considered an outclassing from Pereira? I’d probably say so, but now I’m curious.

I know it’s a bit of a default bit of text placed here every single day. I do truly mean it when I say thanks for reading, though. There are several other ways that you could start off your days, and if you frequently do it here, I appreciate it. Even if it isn’t frequent, you are appreciated. See you tomorrow?

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EXIT POLL

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