Fellow Contender Series alum Alonzo Menifield reacts to Jamahal Hill's LHW championship (Exclusive)

Dana White's Contender Series (DWCS) alum Alonzo Menifield has given his reaction to Jamahal Hill's light heavyweight title victory, praising his compatriot's journey to success.

Menifield featured twice in DWCS before earning himself a contract with the UFC. He earned a TKO victory in 2017 and again in 2018 whilst on the show and made his official UFC debut in 2020. Since debuting, Menifield has fought nine times, winning six and losing three.

'Atomic' is currently set to face Jimmy Crute at UFC 284 this weekend.

Alonzo Menifield recently sat down for an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda MMA's Andrew Whitelaw. The American was asked about Jamahal Hill's recent title victory, where 'Sweet Dreams' became the first Contender Series graduate to win a UFC title.

Menifield stated:

"It's very cool. Big kudos to him. I said, 'That's awesome man.' The sky is the limit for the rest of us... I know we all probably wanted to take the belt from Jon Jones, but it's cool to see fresh blood in the division. Old moves out and new moves in."

'Sweet Dreams' captured his maiden title last month when he faced Glover Teixeira for the vacant 205lbs title at UFC 283. Hill rose to the occasion and dominated the Brazilian, winning every single round on the judges' scorecards, including a 10-8 in the fourth.

Check out the exclusive interview here (Comments from the 8:00-min mark):

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Alonzo Menifield on dream match-ups

Alonzo Menifield is starting to build a reputation as one of the hardest hitters in the lightweight division. Of his six wins in the UFC, five of them have been inside the first round.

The American has also had to overcome some mixed form in the octagon. After starting his UFC career with wins over Paul Craig and Vinicius Moreira, 'Atomic' suffered back-to-back losses.

The 35-year-old fighter eventually turned his fortunes around and is now 4-1 in his last five appearances, including a two-fight winning run.

When asked about his dream match-ups, 'Atomic' revealed that he does not think about them:

"Nah man, I never really think about that. I know my fight with Ed Herman was cool, but as far as any legends, I don't think they're in the UFC anymore."