Jamahal Hill wants to make Paul Craig pay for everything he’s said leading up to their fight.
Hill (8-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) meets Craig in the UFC 263 main card opener June 12 at Gila River Arena in Glendale, Ariz. The pair originally was scheduled to square off in the co-main event of UFC on ESPN 21 in March, but the bout was scrapped after Hill tested positive for COVID-19.
After their bout was postponed, Craig (14-4-1 MMA, 6-4-1 UFC) put out a Tweet saying that Hill “pulled out,” which sparked a back-and-forth between the two. Hill, who said he was badly hit by the coronavirus to the point of coughing up blood, was not happy with the way Craig phrased his statement and has vowed to make him pay.
“It’s personal,” Hill told MMA Junkie. “It’s definitely personal for me. I will not accept anything other than complete domination and destruction of Paul Craig – nothing short of that. He shouldn’t be able to walk out of the cage. I want him carried out.
“(It got personal) whenever he hopped on my posts talking about I faked COVID and if I really had COVID, ‘Show the COVID tests,’ and him calling me a b*tch and sh*t like that.”
Craig has had a couple of incredible comeback submissions over Kennedy Nzechukwu and Magomed Ankalaev and has finished every fight he’s won. Most recently, he put away former UFC light heavyweight champion Shogun Rua.
But despite the Scottish native’s rise up the light heavyweight rankings, Hill isn’t impressed. He gives himself the advantage everywhere, even on the canvas – where Craig has finished the majority of his fights.
“(I’m) not really (impressed),” Hill said. “I’m not going to disrespect his game because his game has gotten him to No. 14 in the world, and for him to be where he is, he’s obviously a skilled fighter. He’s obviously got talent. He’s obviously nobody to just shake a stick at. But as far as me, I’m on a different level. As far as me and the level I’m on, I feel he’s levels – levels below me in everything.”
In what is being dubbed as a striker vs. grappler matchup by many, Hill thinks Craig will be shooting early to try and get the fight to the ground.
“That’s the only thing he wants to do,” Hill said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he ran across the cage and just tried to dive on me – but he’d pay for it, of course. That’s what he wants because he hasn’t seen my grappling. He doesn’t know, so he’s hoping that what he’s done as a grappler and everything, he’s got confidence in it and he hasn’t seen mine.
“So he feels maybe that’s his avenue to success. But he knows. He’s seen what happens with these hands, and he don’t want part of that. I know he don’t want no part of that. Even in the little interactions that we’ve had, he’s always, ‘Oh, you better make sure your jiu-jitsu is good.’ That’s all but saying that’s your go-to. You’re hoping that you’re better than me in that one spot, and I’m telling you, you can’t beat me anywhere.”