Jamahal Hill is owning up to the mistakes he’s made over the past several fights that have the former light heavyweight champion riding a three fight losing streak.
The most recent loss was a lopsided decision defeat to Khalil Rountree Jr. in Baku, Azerbaijan. Rountree picked Hill apart on the feet, using kicks to frustrate “Sweet Dreams” and keep him on the outside. For his part, Hill looked extremely flat footed and just didn’t have the mobility to deal with Rountree’s attacks.
In a new video released to his YouTube channel, Hill expressed frustration with his performances and vowed to improve.
“I know there was a lot made and said of the things before the fight, me saying Khalil’s not on my level,” Hill said. “I said the same my last few fights. But to be honest, I haven’t been on my level. I haven’t been on my level now for quite some time.”
“I think that people severely underestimate the injuries that I’ve dealt with and the challenges that I’ve had to overcome with that,” he said. “An Achilles tear to an athlete is a career ender. It’s a career ender in a lot of cases to many, many people. And then you compile that with the injuries that I’ve also dealt with, the tears to the knees from trying to come back and force my way back in the time that I did. I’ve gone against a lot of advice that I was given by my team and people close to me.”
Hill also revealed that he was coming into fight camps really heavy.
“I have to do more. I have to work harder. I have to grind harder,” he declared. “I’ve entered my last three camps and the lowest was maybe 260 pounds. This last camp, when I started, I was about maybe 265 pounds. That goes into that work. I cannot spend camp trying to make weight when I have to focus on improvement as well as strengthening in places that I’m weak with injury and things like that.”
“I have to apologize to people that have supported me and have to be better. I have to be better with how I take care of my body, how I work to improve and stay sharp with my body and with my skills. So I will be on that.”
From the sounds of things, Hill might be taking an extended break to properly rehab his injuries so he can get back to being the dynamic natural he was a few years back that captured the light heavyweight title.
“For now, I’m gonna take the time that I need to make sure that I can focus on my injuries, give them the time that they need to get back to strength and back to feeling like me again. I haven’t felt like myself in quite some time now. Haven’t been able to do the things I like. I haven’t run since the injury. Just a feeling of maybe I can’t, things like that, just the strength not being there to my legs. And that’s something that has to change.”
We’ll see if Hill is able to recover some of that spring in his step, because the absence has made the difference between him piecing up his opponents and being a sitting duck taking potshots.
This story originally appeared on MMA Mania
