Daniel Cormier believes Jamahal Hill was thrown off before being knocked out by Alex Pereira at UFC 300.
Pereira defeated Hill in round 1 of their light-heavyweight title fight last Saturday. The fight-ending sequence occurred right after Hill landed a low blow on Pereira, which referee Herb Dean waved away to continue fighting. Just seconds later, Pereira dropped Hill with his signature left hook and finished him.
Cormier suggests that Dean Pereira (10-2 MMA, 7-1 UFC) and Hill (12-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC) should have separated after the accidental low blow instead of allowing them to continue in the exact same position. Cormier believes the short break without a point distracted Hill.
“I saw some things a little differently after watching it with him (Hill),” Cormier said on his show “Funky and the Champ” with Ben Askren. “He talked about foot placement as a southpaw fighter against a conventional fighter, the reach and everything else. … I run it through my cousins, and my cousin had the same idea. They thought Herb Dean had made a mistake. While we’re all lost in the idea of Herb intervening, Alex reaches out and Herb steps back. When you have an illegal strike, they say they should have been separated and then they come back together like a new restart.
“It didn’t happen. A very short time later, Alex landed the shot that knocked down and knocked out Jamahal, seconds after what should have been a restart.
Cormier continued, “I don’t take sides in this deal. I’m just asking what you think about that. When an illegal attack occurs, they generally separate the athletes, get them back together and the fight starts again. In that moment, it felt like Alex had said, “I’ve got my timing, I’ve got my foot placement.” He went and landed, but they felt like they were much closer than they should have been.
PFL analyst and former referee John McCarthy weighed in on Xand said Dean handled the situation perfectly.
It’s inherently bad for the sport and incredibly embarrassing to hear people who supposedly know the sport of MMA smearing people’s actions. @HerbDeanMMA as if he was responsible for knocking out @JamahalH @ufc 300.
Let’s make this as clear as possible for everyone. Herb was…— Big John McCarthy (@JohnMcCarthyMMA) April 18, 2024
“It’s inherently bad for the sport and incredibly embarrassing to hear people who supposedly know the sport of MMA smearing people’s actions. @HerbDeanMMA as if he was responsible for knocking out @JamahalH @ufc 300. Let’s make this as clear as possible to everyone. Herb was perfect in the actions he took in allowing @AlexPereiraUFC to call the timeout for the groin kick he took and then keep the action of the fight moving. The fighter who makes a mistake by attacking the groin determines how much time he needs to sufficiently recover from the mistake. If they need it, they are given a maximum of 5 minutes. Often fighters don’t want to stop the action because they feel like they’ve gained momentum in the fight and don’t want to give their opponent time. Everything Herb Dean did was exactly what we would train each officer to do under the same conditions. Fortunately, we had an official in the cage who understands the rules and mechanics required to successfully officiate a world title fight, instead of the talking heads guessing what is right or wrong.”
For more information on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s events hub for UFC 300.
The story originally appeared on MMA Junkie
