When Alex Pereira's viral celebration after Jamahal Hill KO win was brutally slammed by Robert Whittaker as "cringy as hell"

Robert Whittaker once criticized Alex Pereira’s widely shared celebration following his win over Jamahal Hill. 'Poatan' successfully defended his light heavyweight title for the first time with a devastating first-round knockout of former champion Hill in the main event of UFC 300 in April 2024.

The knockout followed a brief interruption after 'Sweet Dreams' landed an accidental low blow on Pereira, prompting referee Herb Dean to momentarily step in. Undeterred, the Brazilian dismissed the pause and opted to keep fighting, ultimately securing the finish. He then punctuated the victory with a viral "Khaby Lame" celebration.

Check out Alex Pereira's celebration below:

During an episode of his MMArcade Podcast in April 2024, Whittaker commended Pereira’s impressive performance against Hill but voiced his belief that the celebratory gesture was unnecessary and lacked sportsmanship:

"The most disappointing thing about his fight was his cringy celebration... It's still cringy as hell. I knew it was meme-related, but it's still cringy as hell. He's this cool Aztec warrior, right? With face paint, screaming, bow and arrow, knocking dudes out left, right, and center. Then he does a little child's meme at the end. Come on, dude."

Check out Robert Whittaker's comments below (11:40):

---

When Jamahal Hill took issue with Alex Pereira’s UFC 300 celebration

In June 2024, Jamahal Hill reflected on his knockout loss to Alex Pereira at UFC 300, criticizing 'Poatan' for his celebratory antics and expressing frustration with the way MMA fans responded to it.

In a now-deleted Instagram post (via MMA Junkie), 'Sweet Dreams' wrote:

"Now I haven’t really spoken on this, but I went to Brazil and [dog walked] your guy [Glover Teixeira in one of the most one-sided [whoopings] in championship history, and after showed nothing but respect and paid homage. I’ve never celebrated over an opponent I beat and even called out my fans for disrespecting Johnny Walker after I slept him!!"

He added:

"But because I showed competitive fire and was excited to be back after an injury that could of ended my career, y’all think this [was] funny or cool!! [Alex], you really setup a punch you couldn’t get to without a weird confusing moment and did some weak shit, but [it’s] OK because you will fight me again and my eyes won’t leave you until your as stiff as Izzy [Israel Adesanya] left you in Miami! And y’all remember I’ve lost before in the first round and remember how I responded, this time will be even better."

Check out Jamahal Hill's comments below: