Jiri Prochazka TKOs Jamahal Hill to end wild fights

LOS ANGELES – At UFC 311, Jiri Prochazka was in his element.

With the crowd at the Intuit Dome clearly on his side, Prochazka returned to his old ways as he scored a third-round knockout of Jamahal Hill to end an entertaining scrap between the former light heavyweight champions.

Hill was up against it from the moment he got to the cage as the LA fans booed him mercilessly – even when he walked out to Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us”. When the match first started, he was even more up against it.

Both men had 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 was swollen shut from the damage he took.

The second round got a little funky thanks to two eye pokes – one by each guy – that prompted a referee break to recover. After the second, which was to Prochazka, he reached a flow state of bouncing, feinting and landing shots. Still, Hill put up enough of a fight that Prochazka’s nose was bleeding at the end of the round.

A sign of things to come opened the final frame when Prochazka stunned Hill in the first minute with a right hand as he was on the defensive. And it also got Prochazka thinking about a finish, which he eventually got after a hard blow dropped him, allowing him to swarm to victory.

Current UFC 311 results include:

• Jiri Prochazka def. Jamahal Hill via TKO (strikes) – Round 3, 3:01
• Jailton Almeida def. Serghei Spivac via TKO (punch) – Round 1, 4:53
• Reinier de Ridder def. Kevin Holland via submission (naked rear 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 (punch) – 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 the MMA Junkies event hub for UFC 311.