Jamahal Hill’s ego was his downfall, Ben Askren says

Ben Askren thinks Jamahal Hill was overconfident against UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira.

Hill (12-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC) was knocked out in the first round of his title fight against Pereira (10-2 MMA, 7-1 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC 300 headliner.

Hill predicted a quick knockout of Pereira, but Askren thinks Hill’s antics – like when he caught the imaginary arrow Pereira shot in his walkout – caused him to have misguided confidence.

“My general feeling on that fight, I thought Jamahal Hill was a little too confident saying he was going to stand with him,” Askren said on his “Funky and the Champ” show with Daniel Cormier. “When he hits people, they fall down, and that’s what Jamahal Hill should have been a little more worried about. I feel like he was too confident. I feel like he disregarded how hard Pereira hits.

“I feel, honestly – hopefully your buddy (Hill) doesn’t get too mad at you for this. My feeling? Ego. Ego gets involved with fighters. He thought everyone is saying, ‘Hey, Jamahal, Pereira is the better standup fighter. He’s going to put you down.’ And he said, ‘No, No, it’s not going to happen.’ We talked about when he caught the arrow and broke it. …That’s ego speaking. I did think that maybe put him in harm’s way.”

Hill immediately turned his attention to former champion Jiri Prochazka after the loss to Pereira. Prochazka knocked out Aleksandar Rakic on the same night.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 300.