Alex Pereira hands Jamahal Hill his first-ever KO loss as he stops the former champion in the FIRST-ROUND of their UFC 300 main event showdown

Alex Pereira knocked out Jamahal Hill in the first round of their UFC 300 main event clash on Saturday.

In a landmark event where Max Holloway had already achieved one of the biggest knockouts in the history of the sport, the Main Event pair had a tough act to follow.

Hill came into the headline bout, returning to action after a basketball injury forced him to vacate the title last summer just months after defeating Pereira’s mentor Glover Teixeira at UFC 283.

Meanwhile, Poatan had continued his meteoric rise since switching from kickboxing and joining the select group of two-weight UFC champions by defeating Jiri Prochazka in just his 11th fight as a mixed martial artist in November.

From the opening bell at T-Mobile Arena, Pereira stalked the challenger and waded forward without regard to Hill’s punching power.

A feeling process ensued between the two fighters as Hill attempted to land kicks on the open side in the southpaw versus orthodox matchup.

Pereira combined punches to the body with his patented low kicks to force Hill back towards the Octagon fence, before a low kick from the American prompted referee Herb Dean to call a brief break.

However, the defending champion immediately shrugged off the intervention and emphasized that he could continue to fight.

Just seconds later, Pereira committed to throwing his devastating lead left for the first time in the fight, the blow landing perfectly on Hill’s jaw and sending him crashing to the canvas.

The challenger recovered admirably as Pereira followed him to the mat, but the Brazilian’s attack proved too much and the fight was stopped at 3:14 of the first round.

More to follow