Left hooks and low kicks: How Alex Pereira can beat Jamahal Hill at UFC 300

A technical preview of the UFC 300 main event

Alex Pereira and Jamahal Hill are headlining UFC 300.

This seems a bit underwhelming to most fans who were seemingly expecting the UFC to invent time travel, go get Mike Tyson and George Foreman in their prime, and make them fight.

To be honest, that’s more of a Fight Circus thing.

Instead, we got Alex Pereira, a two-weight champion in two sports, taking on his sixth straight world champion. Hill will be vying to get his belt back. Pereira wants to avenge Glover Teixeira.

What’s not to love?

Jamahal Hill brings a different type of challenge to the Brazilian champion. A switch-hitting fighter who is primarily a southpaw, Pereira will have to make a few adjustments to be sure to get out of Vegas with his strap on the biggest stage of his career.

What does Alex Pereira need to do to remain champion come UFC 300?

Alex Pereira: The left hook

The main talking point on Alex Pereira always boils down to the low kicks and the left hook. In all fairness, that is his bread & butter.

But in my film study on Alex Pereira (see below), we identified other weapons he’s used in the past like the jab to the body and his different approaches to fighting southpaw and orthodox fighters.

Let’s talk the left hook first, shall we? While it’s not Pereira’s only weapon, it is the most potent.

With Jamahal Hill fighting out of southpaw most of the time, the dynamic of this fight will change from what it would be in a closed stance matchup (orthodox versus orthodox).

Instead of countering the jab with the left, Pereira will look to counter the left cross from Hill. That works fine in Pereira’s fighting mechanics.

He often drops back on his rear leg and can get behind his lead shoulder in a quasi-shoulder roll. I can very clearly envision a situation where Hill overextends on a left cross, leaving himself out of position and Pereira drops back onto a left hook to hurt or put away Hill.

The mechanics of a left hook will be different, as mentioned. Let’s throw it over to the great Teddy Atlas on the differences:

Being sure to know what is coming his way is something that Pereira is particularly adept at. His primary weapons are basic but he knows when to use them. In his four fights against Israel Adesanya, Pereira had to deal with someone switching stances constantly.

With Jamahal Hill sticking mainly to southpaw but occasionally going orthodox, the adjustments will come naturally to the Brazilian.

The left hook by Alex Pereira is lethal. As seen in his knockout of Sean Strickland, diagramed above, Pereira can also use his body jab to set up the left hook.

If Hill gets to reaching too much, Pereira can pop up with a massive hook similar to that of boxing legend Joe Frazier.

Footwork and targeting adjustments

Footwork adjustments will also have to be made. With Jamahal Hill being predominately a southpaw, the outside foot advantage will likely be Alex Pereira’s best friend come UFC 300.