"To me, it's true" - Jamahal Hill explains why he's the greatest Contender Series fighter to come off the show

Jamahal Hill has quietly put together quite the resume at light heavyweight, earning four highlight reel knockouts in his five fights with the UFC. That doesn't count the wild Contender Series knockout that landed him a contract with the promotion.

For some reason, he doesn't get the attention some other Contender Series veterans do, which may be why he's started claiming he's the best Contender Series alumn to come out of the show.

During the UFC Fight Night: Santos vs. Hill media day, Hill said:

"Everybody's entitled to their own opinion, but I just put it out there because to me it's true. I don't think anybody coming off the Contender Series has beat the level of competition repeatedly that I have, done it in the fashion that I have, or has the trajectory that I've had. I don't know anybody else on Contender Series who got [back to back main events]."

Asked who he thought the other top names coming off of Dana White's Contender Series were, Hill said:

"Outside of myself, the top three Contender Series alumns, I'd say, are Sean O'Malley, Kevin Holland, and Alex Perez. Not so much in that order."

Watch Jamahal Hill discuss his place at the top of the Contender Series roster below:

While it's tough to say who earns the undisputed top spot in the list of Contender Series veterans, Jamahal Hill certainly belongs in the top four alongside the other names he's listed. As he said, not only is he fighting tough competition, he's knocking them out in devastating fashion.

While his ranking at light heavyweight isn't as high as flyweight Alex Perez, or as high as Kevin Holland's was at welterweight during his 2020 surge, a win over No. 6 ranked Thiago Santos on Saturday would fix that.

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Jamahal Hill doesn't care which Thiago Santos shows up for their fight

Jamahal Hill fights Thiago Santos in the main event of Saturday's UFC Fight Night event. While Santos was a feared opponent at 205 pounds for a while, 'Marreta' simply hasn't been the same since injuring both his knees while fighting Jon Jones in 2019. Asked if he thought Santos had lost a step, Hill declared:

"I don't give a f*** ... for the simple fact of I'm not gonna sit here and be like I'm in the gym training like he's not who he used to be so I don't have to put in the work? No. I trained for him to be the best fighter in the world. I trained, and it goes with that respect for the game. And yeah, I've heard people say he's not the Thiago he used to be, the old Thiago. I'm like bro, even if he was the old Thiago Santos that stepped in front of Jon Jones, I'll whip his a**, period. It's not going to change what's going to happen. At all."

Thiago Santos comes into his fight against Jamahal Hill with a 1-4 record over his last five fights. Prior to the Jones bout, he went 13-4 in the UFC (21-6 MMA).