Former UFC light heavyweight champion Jamahal Hill has struggled being away from training.
Hill underwent knee surgery after losing a unanimous decision to Khalil Rountree at UFC on ABC 8 in June.
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Hill (12-4 MMA, 6-4 UFC) never lost his UFC title. He opted to relinquish it after tearing his Achilles tendon during a pickup basketball game. However, the 34-year-old is yet to notch a win since then, dropping three straight bouts to Alex Pereira, Jiri Prochazka, and most recently Rountree.
“We’re now about two-and-a-half months post-surgery, so feeling good,” Hill told The Schmo. “Feeling good, getting back to it. It’s recovery. It’s a process. It takes time. It’s one that I’m familiar with, that I’m not the happiest to be going through, but you know, I’m attacking it. I’m just going to attack it the best way I can.
“I haven’t been able to work out for a while. I had the injuries after the fight, had to go from that into surgery. So now I’m just hungry to get back to work. It’s had its negatives and its positives. It’s definitely lit a fire under me, just being away from it for a while, being able to just sit back and being allowed to breathe a little bit.”
Hill was recently called out by fellow ex-UFC champ Jan Blachowicz. He accepted the challenge, although he never revealed an exact timetable for his return.
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“I was just cleared recently to start getting back in S&C,” Hill said. “We’re putting a plan together. I’m working with the guys and the ladies over at the PI, the PT staff, the S&C staff, and we’re putting together a plan to get the results that we want. Best version of myself. We going to get rid of the gut, we going to carve up, we going to see what that best physique looks like on me.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Jamahal Hill eager for UFC return, says time off ‘lit a fire’ under him
