Former light heavyweight champions Jiri Prochazka and Jamahal Hill are finally set to meet at UFC 311 on Jan. 18 with the card taking place at the new Intuit Dome in Los Angeles.
The fight was initially announced during the UFC Macau post-fight show with Prochazka also posting about the matchup on his Instagram. Additional sources also confirmed the bout to MMA Fighting on Saturday with the showdown being added to the UFC 311 card in January.
Prochazka returns after suffering a second loss to reigning UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira back in June. He fell to 0-2 against the Brazilian after losing his title to Pereira in 2023.
While the losses to Pereira definitely sting, Prochazka remains one of the top fighters at 205 pounds with notable wins over Aleksandar Rakic, Glover Teixeira and Dominick Reyes.
Meanwhile, Hill makes his first appearance since suffering a knockout loss of his own to Pereira at UFC 300 in April. The fight served as Hill’s return to action after he ruptured his Achilles tendon in a pickup basketball game that forced him to relinquish his light heavyweight title.
Hill was then scheduled to fight at UFC 303 but he was forced off the card due to injury.
Now Hill faces Prochazka in a showdown between former champions that could vault the winner back into title contention in the near future.
UFC 311 goes down Jan. 18 with no main event booked for the card yet, although rumors have swirled that lightweight champion Islam Makhachev could defend his title against Arman Tsarukyan in the headliner.
@Detroit_Redneck
Called It last night
De Ridder (18-2) is getting right back to action after his sloppy but entertaining UFC debut against Gerald Meerschaert at UFC Vegas 100. RDR submitted “GM3” in the third round after a back-and-forth battle (watch highlights).
“The Dutch Knight” had high expectations when he signed with UFC because of his success in ONE Championship, which included winning the Middleweight and Light Heavyweight titles simultaneously.
Holland (26-12) is coming off a technical knockout (TKO) due to a corner stoppage because he suffered a rib injury at the end of the first round of his fight against Roman Dolidze at UFC 307 in Oct. Before that, he submitted Michal Oleksiejczuk at UFC 302. “Trailblazer” is 2-3 in his last five fights.
A win over Holland would set De Ridder up for a Top 15 opponent; if Holland derails RDR, he will be right back in the Middleweight contender picture.
Hope Jiri shuts him up
Can’t wait to see Jiri bow to a lifeless Hill
Jiri
De Ridder
Islam
