Jamahal Hill says he’s no longer the UFC light heavyweight champion now that Jiri Prochazka vs. Alex Pereira has been announced for the vacant title at UFC 295 on November 11th.
Hill ruptured his Achilles tendon back in July and declared his intention to relinquish the title so the 205 pound division could move on without him. For the last two months, he’s still been listed as the champ, but all that changes now that a fight for the vacant title has been booked.
“It brings up some feelings,” Hill said. “This would officially vacate me as the champion. I believe a lot of people were confused about that process, and reason being: whenever Jiri vacated the belt, it was pretty much immediate because they already had a fight set up to fill that vacancy. [My title is vacated] Now that there’s a fight announced to fight for the title.”
Hill declared the fight a toss up between two legitimate contenders.
“They’re definitely two fighters that I wanted to meet in my reign as champion,” he said. “And I do still plan to meet upon my return. I just kind of hate the fact that one kind of has to cancel the other out. For me personally the best thing that could happen would be like, I don’t know, a controversial type deal happening so that way they keep their value intact for both so I can just come back and do my thing.
“But it is what it is. I’m healing up, I’m coming along, doing physical therapy twice a day, just getting back to it.”
“I plan on being there,” Hill said. “I’m gonna go, I’m gonna watch, I’m gonna see what happens, and I’ll look the next man in the eye and let him know what’s coming. I don’t got to say nothing, I can just give you a look and you know everything you need to know. I just can’t wait to be back.”
“We’ll see who will sit as the steward on the throne until the king returns.”
This story originally appeared on MMA Mania
