Jamahal Hill warns Alex Pereira to focus on Israel Adesanya: 'He was getting his ass whopped'

New UFC light heavyweight champion Jamahal Hill thinks middleweight champ Alex Pereira should worry about his own weight class for now.

UFC light heavyweight champion Jamahal Hill thinks Alex Pereira should worry about his own weight class.

After Hill (12-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) defeated Pereira’s mentor, Glover Teixeira, with a dominant decision to capture the vacant belt at UFC 283 in January, middleweight champion “Poatan” was seen staring him down in the octagon. He then issued him a challenge.

But Hill thinks Pereira (7-1 MMA, 4-0 UFC) should worry about his title-fight rematch with Israel Adesanya at UFC 287, which was announced after Pereira made his callout.

“I think he should really focus on Izzy because he was getting his ass whopped for a good majority of that fight last time before he won,” Hill told The Schmo.

Pereira was down 3-1 on the judges’ scorecards before he rallied to knock out Adesanya in Round 5 at UFC 281. They will run things back April 8, but Hill thinks Adesanya will get the belt back.

“He had some things happen for him like the leg (kick) check at the end,” Hill said. “I think if Izzy just throws hands – just box him; just be quick and outbox him – he’ll win.”

Hill is expected to next face Jiri Prochazka, who vacated the light heavyweight title after he sustained a shoulder injury that required surgery. No timetable for Prochazka’s return has been given.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 287.