Jamahal Hill tells the story of how Weili Zhang thought he was Khalil Rountree
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Jamahal Hill recently recalled a hilarious interaction with Weili Zhang.
Hill was recently in attendance for Dana White’s Contender Series, where he came across the women’s strawweight champ. Currently recovering from a knee injury, “Sweet Dreams” was surprised when Zhang wished him luck for an apparent fight next month. When Zhang specified that it was a title fight, Hill realized that she had mistaken him for Khali Rountree Jr. Rountree challenges Alex Pereira for light heavyweight gold in the main event at UFC 307 on Oct. 5 at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Hill was surprised by “Magnum’s” confusion, as Rountree is considerably shorter and also has facial hair. However, the former light heavyweight champ knows Zhang meant no disrespect.
“Weili at the Contender Series last week… Weili comes up, ‘Next month, let’s go,’” Hill recently said on Aljamain Sterling’s YouTube channel. “I’m like, ‘What?’ She’s like, ‘Oh you fight title.’ I was like, ‘Oh, she thinks I’m Khalil. My face has no hair; he’s got facial hair. He’s six foot, he’s a lot shorter. That was funny though. You know she’s sweet. She don’t mean anything by it, so it’s all good.”
Hill was originally scheduled to face Rountree at UFC 303 this past June before “The War Horse” was suspended due to a failed drug test and replaced by Carlos Ulberg. Hill subsequently pulled out of the bout due to injury and was replaced by Anthony Smith. Then, Ulberg also pulled out due to undisclosed reasons and was replaced by Roman Dolidze, who beat Smith via unanimous decision. Hill also said he’ll be attending at the title fight between Pereira and Rountree at UFC 307.
Hill won the vacant light heavyweight title with a unanimous decision win over Glover Teixeira at UFC 283 in January 2023. However, he had to vacate the belt half a year later after rupturing his Achilles tendon during a game of pickup basketball. Hill returned to action at UFC UFC 300 this past April, suffering a first-round KO loss in a failed title bid against “Poatan.” However, the finishing sequence was somewhat marred with controversy, as Pereira brushed off a low blow and stopped referee Herb Dean from interfering moments before landing the knockout punch.
