Smith And Hill Unite To Topple Teixeira At UFC 283

Jamahal Hill and Anthony Smith went from planning to fight each other to teaming up.

UFC 282 this past weekend (Dec. 10, 2022) was the final UFC pay-per-view (PPV) of the year and left the mixed martial arts (MMA) community with plenty to talk about. The main event saw top Light Heavyweight contenders, Jan Blachowicz and Magomed Ankalaev, battle over the vacant title only to have their bout scored as a split draw. Immediately after, UFC President, Dana White, went ahead and made another vacant title clash between Hill and former champion, Glover Teixeira, for UFC 283 on Jan. 21, 2023, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

As a result of the sporadic decision, the aforementioned Smith loses out on his originally scheduled March 2023 fight night main event against Hill. Instead, he’ll now help out “Sweet Dreams” for his old foe.

“I’ve talked with Derek Brunson, thinking of getting him out here,” Hill told Fanatics View. “Antony Smith, ‘Lionheart.’ Yeah, in the phone call where we talked about it I asked him, I was like, ‘Hey, bro. I need you. If you’re willing to step [up] and help me and let me know what your experience of dealing with this opponent, I would more than appreciate that.’ And he was amazing, bro.”

Smith and Teixeira fought in May 2020 with the latter continually gaining momentum toward a would-be title. In the fifth round of a majorly Teixeira dominant outing, the Brazilian finished Smith with strikes on the ground.

Losing a fighting opportunity is never a fun thing as Smith found out in a unique fashion like the rest of the world. However, “Lionheart” didn’t take any frustrations out on the man he was supposed to face.

“He understands the game,” Hill said of Smith. “He was like, ‘It sucks for me.’ He didn’t have any ill [will] toward me or nothing. He was actually happy for me.

“I want to get him (Teixeira) out of there,” he concluded. “That’s how I see it playing out. If I gotta take my time and beat him up and put it on him until I get him out of there, I feel like I can get him out of there, but if I don’t then just beat him up. Assert my dominance as the champion.”