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Watch Jamahal Hill and Khalil Rountree Jr prepare for their main event at UFC Baku this weekend. This episode of UFC Journey is courtesy of @ESPNMMA.
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Video Transcript
[Music]
i'm a former champion i do see a way to
get back into title contention khil
Roundry comes out to do damage but my
fighting style can be the kryptonite to
his fighting style i will knock out Khil
Roundry
the biggest mistake that Hill can make
is to think that I'm not a problem i
bring strength i bring speed i bring
everything to this fight that Hill does
not
i see the fight playing out with my hand
raised in the air that's it
[Music]
good nice toss that was a perfect first
toss
good nice
i have no idea where I'd be right now if
I didn't find mixed martial arts
very nice before it I didn't know where
I was headed and once I found mixed
martial arts
it just opened up my vision to endless
possibilities
putting the work in that's what makes us
feel good that's what makes us confident
let's go brother we're 30 days in a
wakeup call let's go
i grew up in Las Vegas in a single
parent household i have two older
brothers and one younger sister nice
the family dynamic was survival
my mom did a really good job at raising
us and making the house as comfortable
and as safe as she could we had each
other in the toughest of times to help
each other get through the struggle wake
up we don't know if we're going to feel
good the day we're fighting so if we
don't feel good we got to go get it done
anyways my dad was the road manager for
Boyce to Men there was a night after the
show where he got into an altercation
with some guys that were there to rob
him
instead of giving up his belongings and
whatever they were there for he chose to
protect himself and and his territory
which ended up leading to him being
murdered
when my dad died I was 2 years old
up until 11 I thought that he passed
away from being diabetic
when my mom told me the real story I
started to become a little bit more
afraid of the world
i was really angry that someone would
take my father's life
especially in a time where I felt like I
needed that father figure the most
i really had no outlet
at that time i felt emotionally trapped
the biggest thing that I dealt with was
insecurity
i was overweight
i was having suicidal ideiations more
days out of the week than not
to cover up that pain to cover up those
feelings started smoking cigarettes i
picked up drinking and on top of alcohol
pain medication
my habits were only making things worse
i felt like my heart was going to stop
one night when I was falling asleep
just felt things internally especially
in my chest area that I'd never felt
before
i knew that something had to change
i just didn't know what yet
don't let anybody outwork you that's the
key nobody out works you shortly after
that I seemed my brother Donovan he'd
just gotten a shoulder injury from doing
MMA
purpose we sat down and he told me all
about what he's been experiencing there
it is i just connected to it and I was
like I want to do that that looks very
therapeutic i feel like there's enough
rage inside of me that I could do that
fast a few short months after I signed
up at the gym I was 305 lbs the day that
I signed my membership March 1st 2010
it just ended up becoming the place that
I wanted to be i lost 100 lb in 11
months
i was like "Okay I want to keep doing
this there's no feeling better than this
it was like maximum dopamine i don't
really know if I would be alive if it
weren't for MMA really I could say MMA
saved my life
wow he's hurt khil Roundry Jr put the
light heavyweight division on notice oh
and this is an evolving mentally
maturing Khil Roundry Jr
that has always been the key for Khil
Roundry is the mentality when his mind
and his body are connected he is as
dangerous as they come
summon it 30 seconds left in this fight
you got to try to push 30 seconds left
in this fight here we go here we go here
we go go come on get up there 600 700s
maintain it you got it you got it you
got it
i 100% fight in honor of my father i
always imagine that he's there in the
arena when I'm fighting
i have a very good feeling that my dad
would be proud of all the success and
where I'm at right now
my dad chose to give me his name i feel
it's an honor
i want the name to live on through the
work that I'm doing now which is
fighting and becoming a champion
physically and mentally what sets me
apart from other fighters is my will my
determination my strength there we go
there we go there we go i'm fighting
Jamal Hill every fan will be interested
in this matchup because they know that
we both hit hard and that we possess
knockout power
i'm prepared to win this fight and show
the world that I'm the guy
headed to go get the kids from school my
middle daughter and my youngest son you
know I spent a lot of time uh over in
Vegas you know with uh trying to get my
body right and taking care of things so
you know how much time with them so
anytime I can get time with them you
know what I mean it's always good it's
always blessing
i have six children all my kids have big
personalities
they keep me going they keep me alive
they keep me young hola Offsprings
what's up my boy hi baby
come on ready to go to the gym
i don't know how much of a comprehension
they have of what I do or the level that
I've been able to reach they're just
proud of their dad you like watching the
fights mhm jayz times you like watching
your dad fight man yeah i like Yeah like
I have these cheer pom poms on my um
Halloween costume and I use them for
when he fights
i get scared
i'm doing this for them but at the same
time you know you want to be there you
want to be a a heavy influence within
their life and growing up and the people
that they turn into
i had my first kid at 15 so I had to
grow up pretty fast
it taught me a lot made me have to
understand what's important and how to
find my place in life and what my legacy
would be
my mission became generational wealth
having access and building that
foundation to where my kids feel like
they can do whatever they want to do it
plays the long game it just weighs you
out i wanted to open doors that weren't
open for me and I poured everything I
had into it ultimately bringing me to
where I am now
i accomplished the highest goal in this
sport by winning the UFC light
heavyweight championship of the world
before
I tore my Achilles I had only been
champion for 6 months
i was playing basketball just felt like
somebody stepped on the back of my leg
40 minutes after I left the doctor's
office they called me and gave me the
news that it was a torn Achilles
you know I didn't have a fight book so I
wasn't really worried too much about it
i thought I'd be fine but then it slowly
started to sink in like this is bad
anybody will tell you the worst injury
in sports is the Achilles tear it's
ended a lot of people's career
for me to be diagnosed with that it was
tough i had to give up the title
to give up the belt it hurt man it hurt
whenever you suffer a major injury it's
all types of questions that go through
your head will I be the same can I still
do this is this it but it didn't really
cross my mind that my career could be
over just because I just wasn't going to
allow it to be even if I had to go in
and fight on one leg I was going to
return to the cage
i took the rehab on as a challenge
i mainly got past it and got through the
process of having to give up the belt of
everything it was just looking at the
recovery as my opponent that was my
challenge i was going to do everything
that I could to win that battle
7 months after injury I was right back
into camp and 2 months later I fought
Alex Pereira at UFC 300
jamal Sweet Dreams Hill tore his
Achilles in a basketball game last
summer and now returns to the proven
ground in a championship setting once
again
when I returned Alex Pereira had won the
belt from Giri Pashka i was excited i
wanted the challenge a lot of people
seen him as the boogeyman they just seen
him as just this unbeatable guy wanted
to go in to show my level and show that
I was back
oh good right hand by Jamal over the top
in the fight I felt good there was just
that one little small moment of
confusion where the ref yells "Stop
stop." I stopped stood straight up and
the next thing I know he's right in my
face i had a reflex I threw and then I
get caught and I'm looking up at his
legs
oh my goodness
he's out all hills out and still
it was very very shitty in the moment
but you have to take the lesson that you
can in it and move on with that and for
me that was stay locked in
I don't regret coming back when I did
the thing that I will say that I regret
was the decision that I made after the
fight to jump right back into camp
I was offered the Yuri Paskka fight and
jumped into camp
in the camp for Yuri the Achilles injury
was still present i thought it was
something that would just go away on its
own and anything that I was feeling
would be handled with the adrenaline
from the fight oh left fellas Hill
yuri came and he added some new things
to his game he made good adjustments
i understood the position where I was
and still felt as though I could win
he proved me wrong oh there's an
uppercut
oh
he's hurt oh my goodness you found
yourself i'm going to stop that indeed
will do it
[Music]
my philosophy of win and learn is you
got to be able to find the lessons in
the losses as well as the wins i just
focused on what can I learn what can I
do better for the next time
coming off two losses back to back in my
career which has never happened to me
before
I've now put myself in a position where
to stay in the title picture i must win
counter with like big hooks every once
in a while you know when he's close lead
one
yeah
i believe 100% I need to come out and
make a statement against Ghil Roundree
what's this i need to show that I'm
still that high level and dominant
fighter that I've been down the middle
the guy's a brutal fighter he don't come
out to just beat you he comes out to
truly do damage he wants to be feared
but I have the ability to win a fight in
multiple ways and he has really just one
way to win he has a puncher's chance and
I believe I'm the magician here i got
all the tricks
i've been through many different phases
in my life
the beginning of my UFC career was a bit
rocky
lots of ups and downs not a lot of
consistency in my thoughts and in my
emotions either
i wasn't even sure if I really wanted to
be there
i think the inconsistency in my career
was all due to lack of commitment and
lack of intention
i was a one foot in one foot out guy for
a good amount of time and I think it
showed in my performances and it showed
in my record i needed to do something
different
when I first got into MMA the first
martial art that I loved was Muay Thai
that got me looking into Thailand i went
there to learn what Muay Thai really is
about my idea was to go there for 1
month that one month turned into almost
3 years
thailand ignited a new spark in me when
CO 19 got announced I was already living
in Thailand
then UFC introduced the Apex fights
and the only way that I could continue
to fight was to leave Thailand
so I packed my belongings and I knew if
I'm going to fight I have to go back to
America
i made a commitment to myself that once
I leave Thailand I'd be 2 feet in and
that I'd give everything that it took to
become a champion
when I moved back I immediately started
working with John Wood again all right
we're moving away now when his head's
not there that means the legs are i told
John Wood I want to become a champion
and I trust that you can support me in
that since then we had a solid
understanding of one goal and that goal
was to become the champion
[Music]
good i like those blocks and goes the
evolution of Khalil has been great we'd
spent a couple years apart he came back
and we really just kind of clicked
he realized that this is my time now we
found the right team of people around
that also believe it
and those things are showing us fights
now time
so he's got the right team he's got the
right mentality and this is why I
believe that he will become a world
champion one day
for Kilo Ramry it's all about finding
his comfort zone since being surrounded
by the people that are training him he
feels as though he can still make a run
now he really believes that he's an
elite fighter who's somebody who can win
this belt going on a fiveight win streak
built my confidence a lot and it showed
we're on the right path to get to the
plan
what an extraordinary opportunity to
have the legacy of becoming not just the
UFC light heavyweight champion but to
beat one of the scariest human beings
that has ever competed in the sport
there were a lot of people that didn't
think that I was deserving of that fight
but I knew that I'd put on a good
performance and I was ready for it
the biggest lesson that I learned from
that fight is it's not always about the
result
but how you show up and how you fight
and to fight with everything
the result doesn't always matter but if
you give your heart and you show the
world that you're willing to go the
distance it's just as respected
ro Jr hanging tough throwing back
he just doesn't have much left there's
that body shot that'll do it and still
what art by Khalil Roundry Jr he took
everything that he could take he's
gotten more done than recent title
challengers Yuri Prohaska and Jamal Hill
let's go let's go let's go let's go
let's go let's go
looking three
up roll
up lovely go i think that losses can
really take fighters to some pretty dark
places
we lose fights and we feel like I can't
keep going i've got nothing left
during this journey I was introduced to
just this short saying of fall seven
times stand up eight
[Music]
no matter how many times you may fall or
how many times you may experience
adversity you just always stand back up
and
be willing to fall again coming because
if you are willing to fall again then
stand up again you fall down just get up
fall down until
it's over
i've been working my ass off to be
better than I was in the Pereira fight
and that version of myself in my opinion
can get through anybody even Alex if you
put him in front of me again so with
that being said I feel like I'm going to
fight for a title very soon i felt like
I belong there and it only motivated me
to work harder whoever is in front of me
is going to continue to get a better
version of me
it only goes up from here i don't feel
myself slowing down anytime soon
there you go kill the space nice now
settle your weight
settle settle settle now the only thing
he's going to do is he's going to try to
get that right leg underneath there we
go he's killed it
back step clear one of them butterflies
i linked up with my head coach Chad
Palmer when I was 17 18 and he's been a
huge constant in my life keep moving
there you go there you go up up up take
him that way
he gave me a certain confidence about
myself
he was the one who actually believed
that I was unique and that I was special
and that I had something he set a level
of expectation for me that ultimately I
had to buy into because I wanted to
prove him right now settle your weight
so that's why I went so hard for him get
your under hook i gave him everything
that I have
i just knew that he was going to go
somewhere with us and he did don't stay
flag come on and getting to where we had
with the UFC it's been a crazy ride i'm
glad he's stuck in the world all these
years it means a lot to me
i'm glad we we were able to take this
ride together you know means a lot sorry
nice now close the distance the drive
that I have is something that was
instilled in me at a young age i grew up
with four other brothers so I just
always been a competitor
my dad had another son my little brother
Jordan jordan's mom had an older son
named Vince he was a little bit older
but that was my big brother he's like my
best friend
[Music]
he was a very disciplined mind i
remember he just had a very very very
strict routine in the morning 100
push-ups 100 sit-ups from seeing that I
learned discipline and routine he showed
me how you can be a protector a defender
and things like that but also be kind
and gentle and soft
[Music]
in 2017
he was driving he was on his way to work
and the lady who was doing the same just
late running behind and she sped and she
ran through a red light
she collided with his car he passed away
[Music]
i didn't handle it well
i was at work whenever I got the call
and I just
I don't know i just kind of fell to my
knees and started kind of balling
it was just an unreal feeling
[Music]
that was one of the hardest times of my
life
because I had visions it's like getting
to the title and becoming the champion
and in those visions I I vision my
brother being there like "Yo look what I
did with what you showed me you know
look what I did with what you taught me
with what you put into me." You know
what I mean from whenever we were kids
you know that little spark that you lit
look what I've ignited it into
i vowed to carry him with me in spirit
pushed forward to that goal so
I end up actually quitting that job and
went made my pro debut and I gave
everything in to just making it happen
jamal Hill fights with a heavy heart for
his brother and he takes that strength
in there with him jamal Hill ground and
pounds his way to the finish
oh save through finished by Jamal Hill
oh
this man's a knockout artist of the
highest caliber oh my gosh
this man is dangerous in every single
way no judges needed in Las Vegas
tonight
from the time that I even started
looking at the sport I just wanted to
know are you good enough to be champion
are you good enough to be among the best
and among the elite and stamp your name
in history and um I got that opportunity
in Brazil jabal Sweet Dreams Hill gets
his first title shot on the greatest
proven ground in the sport i feel I
answered the question emphatically
nice shot by Jamal Hill i was able to
come in and put on one of the most
dominant championship performances of
all time oh man that one Terara now
another head kick
oh my goodness look at the beating Jamal
Hill is putting on Glover Terra i set
the record for significant strikes
landed in a light heavyweight bout
[Music]
tremendous
when the final bell rung it was just a
surreal surreal feeling no he's
realizing it he's realizing it
it really just hit me whenever I seen my
coaches
it was emotional just because I was just
a kid from Grand Rapids
kind of a little hardhead play too much
joke around type of guy and they molded
me into a world champion
[Music]
i thought about my brother
i had done what I set out to do but it
came with a hurt of not getting to have
that same embrace with him
i like to hope and think that I've made
him proud
that he's somewhere up there smiling
down on me like "Hey that's my brother."
Hey I remember when I showed him that
switch
but that speed that body head is going
to be there the whole time you're fast
enough to get away with it
i know some people are content winning
the belt once but I want it rain
there you go i got to go on a revenge
tour and avenge what's happened since
having to give up the belt
there you go
the biggest mistake Khalil can make is
thinking that I'm maybe not the fighter
that I was believing the hype and all of
just the disrespect that's been going
around
i fought the best of the best i fought
the top of this division i just have
more experience at the top of this sport
than he does
i'm here to dominate Khil Roundry
[Music]
i've got my eyes on the prize
i just give my all and I'm proud and
that's where my confidence comes from
the journey's been really tough but it's
been worth it
my journey has been a testament to hard
work
give it everything you got
put everything you have into it and see
where you stand
i believe you'll be happy with where
that is as long as you give it
everything you have