UFC Light Heavyweight contender Jamahal Hill is looking upon his loss against Paul Craig at UFC 263 last year as beneficial as he claims the setback has made him rethink his career as well as how to approach fights.
I just thought I’m better….. You can’t be that way: Jamahal Hill
Hill, the 10th ranked Light Heavyweight fighter in the UFC, has suffered only one loss in his professional MMA career so far- courtesy to the Paul Craig encounter at UFC 263 in June last year. Hill, who was 8-0 at that time, was dominated by Craig in the fight, as the Scottish fighter locked in an armbar right in the first round, snapping Hill’s elbow in the process and winning the fight via TKO.
Since the defeat, Hill has picked up two wins- against Jimmy Crute and Johnny Walker at UFC Vegas 44 and UFC Vegas 48 respectively, and is now days away from taking on Thiago Santos in the main event of UFC Vegas 59 this weekend.
However, the lone career loss is still in Hill’s mind, as “Sweet Dreams” revealed on the DC & RC podcast that he was expecting to make easy work of Craig but instead, “Bearjew” had the last laugh. Now, the 31-year-old says that the defeat pushed him towards improvement and better judgment in fights.
“Staying within myself, check myself, make sure I’m approaching the game, the fight the right way,” Hill said on the podcast “The Paul Craig fight was just arrogance man. I felt like I could just go in there with one of the best dudes in the world and beat him however I saw fit with no true gameplan on really how to even do that.”
“I just thought ‘I’m better, I’m better, I’m just going to be better, period’. You can’t be that way in this game, you got to respect the game. That’s what I’ve done,” he added. [H/T BJPenn.com]
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