Jamahal Hill’s light heavyweight tenure was highlighted by a
title victory over Glover Teixeira. | Getty/UFC
Jamahal
Hill is leaving the light heavyweight division.
The former
UFC champ announced plans to move to heavyweight on his YouTube
channel. The 35-year-old known as “Sweet Dreams” hasn’t competed
since June 2025, when he suffered a unanimous decision loss to
Khalil
Rountree in the UFC on ABC 8 main event. Hill has been
sidelined by a knee injury since then.
“I’m going to go ahead and say it now: I’m going to heavyweight,”
Hill said. “That’s the announcement, breaking news. So, I’m
officially going to say it: I’m going to heavyweight. It’s been
something I’ve been working on now for a few months, putting on the
necessary weight and putting on the muscle and everything like that
to move up.
“Yeah, wouldn’t it be better if I came back and went and won the
heavyweight title? I think that means more than winning the light
heavyweight title again. They both mean a lot. I think double champ
is better than two-time champ, though. I like the way it
sounds.”
Hill captured the vacant light heavyweight crown with a five-round
verdict over Glover
Teixeira at UFC 283 in January 2023. He had to relinquish the
belt after rupturing his Achilles tendon in a pickup basketball
game. Hill returned for a title shot at UFC 300, where fell to then
champion Alex
Pereira via first-round KO. That was part of a three-bout skid
that also included setbacks to Jiri
Prochazka and Rountree.
The
Dana White’s Contender Series alum has targeted fast rising
heavyweight Josh Hokit,
who stopped Derrick
Lewis on the UFC White House card, as a potential opponent in
his new weight class. Hill hopes to return by the end of 2026 if
possible.
“I don’t want to give a for-sure timeline,” Hill said. “I would
really like to fight on the MSG card. … If not, maybe headline
one of the cards toward the end of the year or something like that.
That’s the plan, to come back in 2026 at the latest. If we can’t
figure nothing out with that, beginning of the year, first quarter,
right at the beginning for sure.”