5 reasons why Jamahal Hill might be the dark horse to watch in the UFC light heavyweight division

Could Jamahal Hill surprise fans by capturing the UFC light heavyweight title in the future?

This past weekend saw Jamahal Hill pick up the biggest win of his UFC career to date, as he knocked out Johnny Walker in the first round of their headline bout.

Following his win over Walker, Hill should clearly be recognised as a fighter to watch at 205 lbs. However, could he be a dark horse in terms of contention for the UFC light heavyweight title?

The 205lb division was just put on NOTICE 🤯

[ @JamahalH | #UFCVegas48 ] https://t.co/1vNMNXNJSZ

Right now the light heavyweight division has many viable contenders for Glover Teixeira’s title, but ‘Sweet Dreams’ is almost definitely one to keep a close eye on.

On that note, here are five reasons why Hill could be the dark horse to watch in the UFC light heavyweight division:

#5. Jamahal Hill is about to hit his prime

At the age of 30, ‘Sweet Dreams’ is probably only just reaching his prime.

For a lengthy period during Jon Jones’ reign, the UFC’s light heavyweight division felt like a weight class peopled by old men.

PRIDE veterans such as Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira were still hanging around near the peak of the division. Meanwhile, other older fighters such as Glover Teixeira, Jan Blachowicz and Daniel Cormier also made their way to the top of the rankings.

That has changed in recent years, with younger talents such as Jiri Prochazka and Dominick Reyes breaking through. However, most of the top ten at 205 lbs are still over 30.

One outlier in this sense is Jamahal Hill. ‘Sweet Dreams’ only turned 30 in 2021, and that means he’s probably only just hitting his athletic prime. That’s because fighters in the UFC’s heavier weight classes tend to stick around for longer than their smaller counterparts.

Essentially, then, Hill is almost certainly a fighter who still hasn’t quite hit his peak, and is likely to continue to improve for some time yet.

SWEET DREAMS INDEED 😳 @JamahalH #UFCVegas44 https://t.co/iW9LJHuaDo

That means he has got plenty of time on his side to break into title contention, even if he were to suffer another loss like the one to Paul Craig along the way.