Former UFC light-heavyweight champion Jamahal Hill has revealed that he won’t be back in action until the end of 2026 at the earliest after undergoing knee surgery.

“Just spoke to Jamahal Hill, who tells me after his latest procedure on his knee, the former UFC light heavyweight champion will be out at least a year,” James Lynch reported on X.

Hill hasn’t had his troubles to seek since winning the title back in January of 2023 with a unanimous decision win over Glover Teixeira.

Just a few months later Hill had to vacate the belt after rupturing his achilles tendon, and since his return the following year he’s suffered three losses in a row, including being KO’d by Alex Pereira, TKO’d by Jiri Prochazka, and most recently in June of this year losing out on the scorecards against Khalil Rountree Jr.

The 34-year-old Hill’s attempts to get back in the win column have been hindered by ongoing knee issues that have prevented him fighting at his best, and so he’s finally opted for surgery to hopefully fix the problem.

“Apparently, the cartilage in my knee was pretty much non-existent,” Hill told Lynch. “Got some pretty bad tears in there, even in the cartilage. So I had, like, a cartilage transplant… These last couple fights, I haven’t really been hopping, bouncing, or really throwing kicks like I should.”

Hill then went on to confirm that recovering from the knee operation will pretty much rule him out for the next 12 months.

“I’m looking at the end of next year,” Hill said when asked about a potential timeline for his return to action.