The bad blood between UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira and former opponent Jamahal Hill is very real.
Following several months of comments exchanged through interviews and social media, the fighters ran into each other at the UFC Performance Institute on Thursday with Pereira’s coach eventually stepping in between them to ensure a verbal confrontation didn’t turn into a physical altercation.
The footage was first posted by Full Send MMA showing Hill approaching Pereira during a training sessions at the UFC P.I. in Las Vegas.
“Not on Twitter now,” Hill said to Pereira as the Brazilian motioned to him for a fist bump before things turned volatile.
The war of words continued with Pereira and Hill both looking more and more agitated as the incident seemingly escalated.
“Put the gloves on,” Pereira told Hill in Portuguese as he invited his former opponent to get in a sparring session right then.
That eventually led to Pereira’s longtime coach Plinio Cruz stepping in between the fighters while reminding them that they get paid to fight.
“It’s coming,” Hill said in response. “I’ll get that money from that boy being asleep.”
There were a number of fighters watching the altercation unravel with Pereira and Hill eventually moving in opposite directions before a potential brawl could erupt.
The rivalry between these two started back at UFC 300 when Pereira scored a vicious knockout to beat Hill in the first defense of his light heavyweight title. Hill called foul on the knockout after a low blow forced the referee to step in between the fighters with Pereira then waving him off before throwing the punch that ended the fight.
Things have only intensified in recent days with Pereira telling Hill to “calm down” and pass the test in front of him when he faces Jiri Prochazka at UFC 311 and then “Dad will give you a second chance.”
That led to a fiery response from Hill, who only seemed that much angrier towards Pereira.
“Beat it,” Hill wrote on Twitter. “Funny how you rushed lil ass [Khalil] Roundtree and dumbass Jiri like you were the man but waited until the refs got in the way to swing at me!!!
“You will see me again at 100 percent soon and we both know the fear that was in your heart!!”
Beat it funny how you rushed lil ass roundtree and dumbass Jiri like you were the man but waited until the refs got in the way to swing at me!!! You will see me again at 100% soon and we both know the fear that was in your heart!! https://t.co/ARC4XQyNQq
— Jamahal Hill (@JamahalH) November 30, 2024
Given this latest incident, Hill has that much more riding on his upcoming fight against Prochazka while Pereira’s attention is likely going to shift focus towards his next title defense, which is expected to come against Magomed Ankalaev sometime in 2025.
