Jamahal Hill says the heated UFC Performance Institute moment with Alex Pereira was planned, not real animosity, and that the idea was to build enough noise around a fight so he could move ahead of Magomed Ankalaev in the title line. Hill made that claim in remarks shared Saturday by Home of Fight and James Lynch, saying, “We planned that” and adding, “I was tryna jump the line over Magomed.”
Jamahal Hill Says Alex Pereira Viral Video was Staged
Hill described the 2024 PI confrontation as a deliberate play to create buzz for a Pereira fight rather than an actual dispute. He also said he and Pereira were on good terms, which lines up with his claim that the scene was intended to sell a matchup and improve his place in the light heavyweight picture.
— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) June 21, 2026
Jamahal Hill says his clash with Alex Pereira at the UFC PI in 2024 was scripted to try and get him to jump over Ankalaev for a title shot
“We planned that, that was for us to try to hype up a fight between the two of us. I was tryna jump the line over Magomed.”
(via… pic.twitter.com/7TamJBjVRq
That admission is significant because the PI clip had been treated as proof that the two genuinely disliked each other. Reports from late 2024 described the exchange as a near-fight in which Pereira threw gloves at the former UFC light heavyweight champion before others stepped in. The US-born athlete is now saying the public read it as a real blowup, while he viewed it as promotion tied to his goal of getting to Pereira before Ankalaev did.
His comment about trying to “jump the line” points straight at the light heavyweight queue that existed around Pereira’s reign. Hill’s account does not erase the fact that the confrontation looked real in the moment, or that many outlets covered it as a genuine flare-up when the footage circulated. What it does change is the meaning of that clip, because Hill is directly saying the performance was part of a title-shot push rather than a personal issue.
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – APRIL 13: Alex Pereira of Brazil reacts to his knockout of Jamahal Hill in the UFC light heavyweight championship fight during the UFC 300 event at T-Mobile Arena on April 13, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
Most fans do not seem to be buying Hill’s new version of events, especially because the PI footage was treated in real time as a genuine confrontation and because reaction online has leaned heavily toward mockery and disbelief whenever the US-born fighter has revisited the Pereira situation. Coverage of fan response has described people clowning Hill, accusing him of living in a fantasy, and questioning whether he is rewriting the story after the fact, while earlier backlash to the Pereira title booking already showed that a sizable part of the audience was skeptical of Hill’s place in that rivalry to begin with.
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – APRIL 13: (R-L) Alex Pereira of Brazil punches Jamahal Hill in the UFC light heavyweight championship fight during the UFC 300 event at T-Mobile Arena on April 13, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images) 
