Anthony Smith vs Jamahal Hill to headline UFC Fight Night 222 in February 2023
We’ve just been informed of two incredible light-heavyweight main events going down in the coming months; first, Jiri Prochazka suffered a gruesome injury to his shoulder, forcing him out of his title defense against former champion Glover Teixeira at UFC 282.
Considering this news, Prochazka has vacated his title, moving the co-main event of the evening to the main event, which will now be a vacant title fight between no. 2 ranked former champion Jan Blachowicz and no. 3 ranked Magomed Ankalaev.
We also have a main event between no. 5 ranked former title challenger Anthony Smith and no. 6 ranked Jamahal Hill on tap for UFC Fight Night 222, which goes down on March 11, 2023, live from a to-be-determined venue.
This should be a very telling fight for both men.
Anthony Smith comes into the bout having gone 3-1 over his last four, picking up stoppage victories over the likes of Devin Clark (triangle choke), Jimmy Crute (TKO), and Ryan Spann (rear naked choke) in that time, most recently losing to Magomed Ankalaev (TKO) in a bout he got injured in.
All in all, Smith has gone 7-4 at 205 lbs, eight of them coming against top contenders, four coming against current or former world champions, all seven victories coming via finish (3 knockout, 4 submission).
Jamahal Hill on the other hand comes into the bout on a three-fight win streak with wins over the likes of Jimmy Crute (KO), Johnny Walker (KO), and former title challenger Thiago Santos (TKO).
The first two came in the opening stages of the opening round, with the win over Santos coming midway through round four. That could be very important for Hill going into this main event clash against Smith, who’s gone past the fourth round three times himself.
Hill has gone 5-1 (1 NC) thus far into his UFC tenure, though he should be 6-1 with five knockouts, as his win over Klidson Abreu in his second UFC bout was overturned to a no contest following a failed post-fight drug test where he tested positive for marijuana.
These are the last two men to defeat Jimmy Crute, becoming two of the only three defeats on the young Aussie’s record, just an interesting fact.
Who comes out on top in this epic light-heavyweight main event going down at UFC FN 222?
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