Jamahal Hill sets rivalry aside to back Alex Pereira after ex-girlfriend wishes downfall of superstar

Few in the combat sports world are taking Alex Pereira’s UFC 313 PPV headliner title loss anything other than it is. An end to a dominant reign and meteoric rise to fame, that is. In his fourth consecutive defense attempt, Pereira lost his UFC 205-pound gold to Magomed Ankalaev this weekend. Everyone has been reeling over it, except for ex-girlfriend Merle Christine, who hit back, pumping all the hate.

Merle Christine was together with Pereira for nearly four years. ‘Poatan’ billed that he ended things after finding out she was invested in a past husband. Christine denied the allegations, saying she ended it.

It was all silent running for a while, with Alex Pereira making an FOTY-worthy campaign with triple-KO title defenses. However, the hateful ex is firing on all cylinders again. justified or not. After his loss, Pereira finds an unlikely ally in his foe, Jamahal Hill.

Jamahal Hill has had his room to gripe about the UFC 300 PPV knockout loss to “Poatan” last April. He also reveled in the fact that the ‘ Good Guy / Bad Guy’ Podcast (@ESPNMMA) for ESPN2/ ESPNPodcenter co-hosts Daniel Cormier and Chael Sonnen reiterated how right Hill was in his assessment. “Sweet Dreams” had predicted Magomed Ankalaev would bag the UFC 313 Pay-per-view event headliner via strikes, and he did.

In the build-up, he has had a long list of issues with Pereira and the fame he got for his strike-heavy skillset. Yet, now, even he supports the version of thought of not kicking a man when he is down. After his recent UFC 311 loss, Jamahal Hill is a step further back from title contention. So, he has been scuffling less; he even lauded the example Pereira set for his son, with an uplifting post-fight message.

Another former champ gave his thoughts about Alex Pereira’s ex-girlfriend and her insensitive timing

Merle Christine has been wildly known for her out-of-pocket takes. While not anti-Pereira, the split did cause a lot of friction, and it showed. Leading into the UFC 313 PPV event headliner, Christine billed Magomed Ankalaev would win. The Dagestani was the advancing fighter and shut down Alex Pereira’s strike game en route to a lopsided decision (49-46, 48-47, 48-47).

Now, Christine is gloating in her prediction, and billing Pereira’s loss was a karmic transition. Ex-bantamweight champ Aljamain Sterling said he did not know what all went on between and after the split.

However, he reiterated that it was insensitive to kick a man when he was down. As for the result, Sterling echoed that the right man won. He isn’t the only one who weighed in on Christine.

UFC commentator bills Merle Christine as ‘poison’ after dirty reaction

Christine went afoul and congratulated the new UFC 205-pound champ Magomed Anklaev after his win. It had shades of spite that the combat sports culture has seen a few times before as well. Her hateful take spread like wildfire on social media, especially given that the UFC 313 victor, Ankalaev himself, is ready to rematch Pereira.

Analysts Paul Felder and Michael Bisping caught on to all the hate. On the “Believe You Me” podcast (@bispingpodcast), episode #626, Felder voiced his annoyance. He said it would be fair game to diss on Alex Pereira at any other time. But given what a fighter goes through for his final cuts and a subsequent war, this was just foul.

After the line of conversation, the producer of their show replayed the clip where post-UFC 313 Merle Christine goes, “No Chama.” Felder, particularly dejected, called that it was “poison” right there.

Related: Alex Pereira lost but joined special group with Jon Jones and Conor McGregor at UFC 313

Stay Updated!

Join our newsletter to receive exclusive updates and curated insights directly to your inbox.

Subscribe NOW