Just days after Magomed Ankalaev's seemingly successful callout of UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Alex Pereira, the champion has instead called out Jamahal Hill. Hill, the former champion, has been out since July 2023 with a torn achilles that forced him to relinquish the belt.
Pereira announced via Instagram that he wanted to focus on Hill. He also said that his next goal would be to break another record, this record being the shortest time between title defenses.
In order to break Ronda Rousey's record of shortest time between title defenses, Pereira would have to defend twice in less than 56 days. Rousey set the record with defenses at UFC 168 and 170. Pereira would likely have to fight on back-to-back UFC pay-per-views if he can't find the one-event rest that Rousey found between 168 and 170.
Pereira refers to that record as "another" record because he already owns multiple UFC records. He is the fastest fighter to become champion at two divisions after doing it in seven fights. He is also the only fighter to have held both the middleweight and light heavyweight championships, although no fighter has ever held both at the same time.
Pereira seems to want to fight Hill before anyone else. If he's to make a successful turnaround in less than 56 days, he'll need to avoid suffering damage at all costs. That could be tricky against someone with Hill's precise and powerful striking. Hill's last fight saw him dismantle Pereira's coach, the great Glover Teixeira, on the feet. I think Hill's striking is a real threat to Pereira's chin, which was suspect at middleweight but has stood up so far at light heavyweight. Pereira is certainly capable of finding a fast finish on the feet, but so is Hill.
If Pereira makes it past Hill, his next challenger will almost certainly be Ankalaev. Ankalaev knocked out Johnny Walker on Saturday and immediately called out Pereira. Teixeira responded on X/Twitter and seemingly confirmed that a fight between the two was in the near future. If Ankalaev is forced to wait until Hill is healthy, he may be waiting until the summer.
Hill will likely be out until the late spring or early summer, which means Ankalaev will have at least a 4 month layoff before a potential fight. That's not excessively long by any means, and Ankalaev may not want to fight anyone else while a future title shot seems to be coming.
If rising contender Aleksandar Rakic can get past Pereira's last foe in Jiri Prochazka at April's UFC 300, Rakic may have an equal argument for a title shot. This could potentially lead to a Rakic-Ankalaev fight to determine who fights the winner of Pereira-Hill. Such a fight would likely have to happen before Pereira-Hill if Pereira's planned rapid turnaround is to happen, and the timing may not work out. Rakic could be a name to watch later in the year.
We'll likely not know more about the Pereira-Hill title fight until Hill's recovery status becomes available, but with the rate of developments in the UFC's light heavyweight division, we may find out sooner rather than later. I'll be covering all major developments.
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