Jamahal Hill reveals how loss to Paul Craig made him rethink career: “You have to respect the game”

UFC light-heavyweight Jamahal Hill believes his loss to Paul Craig helped him.

‘Sweet Dreams’ is set to face Thiago Santos in the main event of UFC Vegas 59 on Saturday night. There, the Chicago-native will look to push his winning streak to three. He’s previously scored knockout victories over Johnny Walker and Jimmy Crute.

Prior to his current win streak, the 31-year-old suffered the sole loss of his career. At UFC 263, the-then undefeated Hill faced submission ace, Paul Craig. The Scotland native scored a first-round stoppage victory, as he dislocated his opponent’s elbow in an armbar.

Now days away from his main event, Jamahal Hill has reflected on his only career defeat. The light-heavyweight contender discussed the loss to Paul Craig in an interview on the DC & RC podcast. There, Hill stated that the defeat actually helped him improve.

The 31-year-old stated that he expected to dominate and easily win at UFC 263. Instead, he lost badly, and that caused him to reflect on his game. Now over a year later, Hill looks back on the defeat as a learning experience.

Jamahal Hill

“Staying within myself, check myself, make sure I’m approaching the game, the fight the right way. The Paul Craig fight was just arrogance man. I felt like I could just go in there with one of the best dudes in the world and beat him however I saw fit with no true gameplan on really how to even do that.”

Jamahal Hill continued, “I just thought ‘I’m better, I’m better, I’m just going to be better, period’. You can’t be that way in this game, you got to respect the game. That’s what I’ve done.”

What do you think about Jamahal Hill’s comments? Do you think he will defeat Thiago Santos at UFC Vegas 59? Sound off in the comment section below!