Former UFC light heavyweight champion Jamahal Hill says he is taking some time away to sharpen his tools.
The 31-year-old has dropped three straight fights in the cage since he was forced to vacate the organisation’s 205-pound title after sustaining an Achilles injury several months after defeating Glover Teixeira for the world title.
After a bit less than a year on the sidelines, Hill returned in the UFC 300 main event where defeated by Alex Pereira in a first-round knockout. He followed that up with a TKO loss against Jiri Prochazka in January and then a comprehensive decision defeat against Khalil Rountree in last month’s fight card in Baku, Azerbaijan.
And speaking on his YouTube channel, the Contender Series alum said that he has detected some errors in his approach to the fight game and will now step aside to address them.
“I know there was a lot made and said of the things before the fight, me saying the comments of Khalil’s not on my level and said the same my last few fights, but to be honest, I haven’t been on my level,” Hill said, as noted by MMA Fighting.
“I haven’t been on my level now for quite some time. I think that people severely underestimate the injuries that I’ve dealt with and the things and the challenges that I’ve had to overcome with that.”
As Hill notes, Achilles injuries are often considered one of the most difficult an athlete can deal with — even more that knee injuries in many cases.
“An Achilles tear to an athlete is a career-ender, is a career-ender in a lot of cases to many, many people. Then you compile that with the injuries that I’ve also dealt with. The tears to the knees from trying to come back and force my way back in the timing that I did. I’ve gone against a lot of advice that I was given by my team and people close to me in taking my time, building back on my injuries, and those things, and I feel that’s something that I’m not going to be able to escape and sort of say.
“For now, I’m going to take the time that I need to make sure that I can focus on my injuries, give them the time that they need to get them back to strength and back to feeling like me again,” Hill said. “I haven’t felt like myself in quite some time now. I haven’t been able to do the things I like. I haven’t run since the injury, just a feeling of maybe I can’t, things like that, just the strength not being there to my legs. That’s something that has to change.
“I have to change the amount of work that I’m willing to do, the amount of push that I give in my preparation. I’m fighting the best in the world right now and I’m at a championship level and I must live like a champion.”
