Jamahal Hill earned a decision victory over Darko Stosic in his UFC debut tonight at Fight Night 166 thanks to his high volume striking.
Round One:
Early leg kick for Hill. He starts pumping the jab and lands a left hand behind it. Both men land a punch apiece. Stosic stumbles on an exchange and rolls back to his feet.
Stosic with a body kick and then one in return from Hill. Now a solid knee to the body from him. Hill the busier man here and making the most of his reach advantage with the jab.
A couple of solid strikes from Stosic now against the cage. Hill gets out of that spot and goes back to striking, but then another heavy salvo of punches from Stosic against the cage.
Again Hill moves away from danger. Stosic with a head kick attempt. Hill shakes his head. Nice hook lands for Stosic and that got Hill’s attention.
More straight punches from Hill. Body punch from Stosic and then one to the head. Knee to the body from Hill, but then Stosic works a takedown and lands it.
Hill is soon back up, but eats a punch as he does so. Hill throwing a knee to the body. Uppercut from Hill and another straight behind it.
Hill with a leg kick and then a front kick to the body. Superman punch attempt. Right hook for Hill.
Lots of output from Hill, but will be interesting to see if he can keep up this pace for the full three rounds.
Stosic wades forward looking to land, but eats a counter. Good left hand for Stosic.
Round Two:
Punches to the body and head from Hill and now kicks to the midsection too. Right hook for Hill and an uppercut attempt, but then Stosic blasts him with a solid counter.
Superman punch from Hill. Punch from Stosic gets a shake of the head from Hill. Hard knee to the body from Hill and Stosic is backing up. Hill recognises it and starts to up his pace even more with hard strikes. Hill working to the body and head here.
Stosic struggling to find a way past Hill’s constant straight punches from range. Hill working in the occasional uppercut too. Now a front kick to the body. He starts to kick to the legs as well for good measure.
Stosic with a flurry, but doesn’t land. Hill rips a couple of times to the body. left hands for Hill, though Stosic is blocking some of this work.
Again Stosic loads up on a flurry and misses. Hill continues to work and in the final 10 seconds Stosic comes to life and lands a takedown. Why he didn’t do that earlier in the round is a mystery.
Round Three:
Punches and kicks to start the final round from Hill, targeting the legs, body and then head. leg kick for Stosic, Hill lands one in return and then Stosic gives him it right back again.
Stosic clearly listened to his corners advice inbetween rounds as he drives in for a takedown and lands it. He starts to land some big shots and Hill shows urgency to get out from under that and manages to drive to his feet.
Hill with straight punches again. Stosic lands another takedown with half the round remaining, but Hill is quickly back up. Stosic continues to clinch up against the cage, but Hill reverses out.
Still puzzling why Stosic didn’t work the takedowns more in the early rounds as he’s having clear success there.
Higher volume of strikes continue to be from Hill. Stosic drives for a takedown and doesn’t get it this time. He does land a nice hook though.
Stosic landing another takedown now in the final minute of the round. He needs a finish here and has limited time to do it.
Hill works his way to the cage and stands back up. Stosic again trying to land a final takedown as his coaches yell at him to throw strikes. Stosic does land a big slam just before the final bell.
Decision:
No question about the winner here. Hill bossed the stand-up for the first two rounds with his constant strikes from range, and though Stosic did expose weaknesses in his takedown defense in the final five minutes, it’s still Hill who gets a victory in his UFC debut by unanimous decision (29-27 x3).
