Introduction
Friday, March 29th, Puerto Rican middleweight prospect Kailan Hill will be in action in Texas, where he will be looking to continue his undefeated streak against Jhonoven Pati. He will be looking to score yet another win, as Hill looks to inch closer to a UFC contract. Hill represents Black House MMA, a top camp out of California. Let’s take a closer look at this prospect as this week’s “Prospect Spotlight.”
Strengths
Striking: Kailan Hill is a striker, plain and simple. That should make sense, seeing as he trains with Black House MMA. Hill has a great mix of power and technique, which is why he’s able to gauge the distance, get in on his opponent and score the knockout. In fact, his last three fights were all by knockout and lasted a combined three minutes. He is diverse with his strikes, as seen in his highlight reel knockout of Andre Walker with a spinning back fist and his head kick knockout of Alex Thompson. He also has great timing and set ups, which is why he’s able to land those diverse strikes. Anybody who stands opposite of Hill risks getting lit up.
Athleticism: In addition to his striking, Hill is an outstanding athlete. He has great quickness on the feet; he’s very agile and moves with speed, grace and technique. He’s also very explosive in everything he does. When you combine that with his good balance, in unison with his great athletic prowess, you have a guy who is usually at a natural advantage when he steps in the cage.
Needs Improvement
Question Marks: With Hill, we still have many questions about his overall game. At just 4-0, he’s still a bit inexperienced as a pro. Not only that, but his level of competition has not been the strongest, which makes it hard to gauge whether he can fight in the big show or not. There are still questions surrounding his ground game as well. He does own a submission win as an amateur, but there is limited evidence of his ground game thus far in his career.
Outlook
Tenured UFC Roster Member: It’s very early to tell, but Hill definitely looks to be a talented fighter that will make the UFC roster. Not only is he an exciting finisher, but he’s the type of striker that Dana White loves. It’s hard to gauge a ceiling for him at this point, but with the talent pool in the middleweight division, it may be tough for him to ever be a title contender. He will score some wins and have longevity on the roster and definitely score some fight night bonus checks.
MMA Intel 