INGLEWOOD, Calif. – At UFC 311, Jiri Prochazka was in his element.
With the crowd at Intuit Dome clearly on his side, Prochazka got back to his old ways as he scored a third-round knockout of Jamahal Hill to conclude an entertaining scrap between the former light heavyweight champions.
Hill was up against it from the moment he made his way to the cage as the L.A. fans booed him mercilessly – even as he walked out to Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us.” Once the fight started, he was even more up against it.
Both men found success exchanging hands in the first round, but Prochazka (31-5-1 MMA, 5-2 UFC) had the biggest moment when he beat Hill (12-3 MMA, 6-3 UFC) to the punch with a hard left hand that knocked him down. After the first round, Hill’s nose was bleeding and his eye swelled up from the damage he took.
The second round got a little funky thanks to two eye pokes – one by each guy – causing a referee breaks to recover. After the second one, which was to Prochazka, he reached a flow state bouncing, feinting and landing shots. Still, Hill put up enough of a fight that Prochazka’s nose bled at the end of the round.
A portent of what was to come opened the final frame when Prochazka stunned Hill in the first minute with a right hand that him on the defensive. And it also had Prochazka thinking of a finish, which he eventually got after a hard punch dropped him, allowing him to swarm for the win.
Up-to-the-minute UFC 311 results include:
- Jiri Prochazka def. Jamahal Hill via TKO (strikes) – Round 3, 3:01
- Jailton Almeida def. Serghei Spivac via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 4:53
- Reinier de Ridder def. Kevin Holland via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 3:31
- Raoni Barcelos def. Payton Talbott via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
- Azamat Bekoev def. Zach Reese via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 3:04
- Bogdan Guskov def. Billy Elekana via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 2, 3:33
- Grant Dawson def. Diego Ferreira via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Ailin Perez def. Karol Rosa via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
- Muin Gafurov def. Rinya Nakamura via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Bernardo Sopaj def. Ricky Turcios via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
- Tagir Ulanbekov def. Clayton Carpenter via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 311.
