Josh Hill (born November 24, 1986) is a Canadian

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...

who competes in the

Bantamweight Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports and weightlifting. For boxing, the range is above and up to . In kickboxing, a bantamweight fighter generally weighs between . In mixed martial arts, MMA, bantamweight is . The name for the class ...

division of

Oktagon MMA Oktagon MMA is a mixed martial arts organization based in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, considered the largest Czech-Slovak organization. The founders and at the same time its owners are Pavol Neruda (formerly Šipkovský) and Ondřej Novotný ...

. Hill competed for such promotions as

Bellator MMA Bellator MMA (formerly Bellator Fighting Championships) was an American mixed martial arts promotion (entertainment), promotion founded in 2008 by Bjorn Rebney and operated until 2025. The promotion takes its name from ''wikt:bellator, bellātor ...

, the

World Series of Fighting The Professional Fighters League (PFL) is an American mixed martial arts league founded by venture capitalist Donn Davis in 2017 and launched in 2018, following the acquisition and restructuring of the former World Series of Fighting (WSOF) promot ...

(WSOF),

Real Xtreme Fighting Real Xtreme Fighting (RXF) is a Romanian mixed martial arts (MMA) promoter (entertainment), promotion company based in Brașov, Romania. It is the largest MMA promotion company in Romania. Sebastian Vieru has been RXF president since 2012. The ...

(RXF), and

TKO Major League MMA TKO Major League MMA was a Canadian mixed martial arts promotion established in 2000, it was originally broadcast on RDS and later on Fight Network. Formerly known as the Universal Combat Challenge (UCC), it was the first mixed martial arts prom ...

. Hill also appeared on

Season 18 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and polar ...

The Ultimate Fighter ''The Ultimate Fighter'' is an American reality television series and mixed martial arts (MMA) competition produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and Pilgrim Media Group currently airing on ESPN+. It previously aired for fourteen s ...

Background

Hill was born in

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Hamilton has a 2021 Canadian census, population of 569,353 (2021), and its Census Metropolitan Area, census metropolitan area, which encompasses ...

, Canada. He started training martial arts at age 20 and took his first professional MMA fight three years later.

Mixed martial arts career

Regional MMA

Josh Hill took his first fight on two weeks notice and won by second-round TKO. His fifth pro fight was for the Aggression MMA Bantamweight title. He won the championship with a unanimous decision victory over then undefeated Diego Wilson (5-0).

The Ultimate Fighter

Starting his career undefeated, with 8 professional wins, Hill was accepted onto

with

Ronda Rousey Ronda Jean Rousey ( ; born February 1, 1987) is an American professional wrestler, actress, and former judoka and mixed martial artist. She is best known for her tenures in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and WWE. She was the first Am ...

and

Miesha Tate Miesha Theresa Tate ( ; born August 18, 1986) is an American professional mixed martial artist. She currently competes in the women's Bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), in which she is a former UFC Women's Bant ...

. The first episode of the show featured an elimination bout to get into the fighter house. Hill earned his place in the house by winning a majority decision over Patrick Holohan. He lost his quarterfinal bout by unanimous decision to Mike Wooten and was eliminated from the tournament.

World Series of Fighting

Josh Hill signed with the

and made his debut at WSOF Canada 2 against Mike Adams on June 7, 2014 in Edmonton, Alberta. He won the fight via knockout in the first round. In his next fight for the promotion, Hill faced

Marlon Moraes Marlon Moraes (born April 26, 1988) is a Brazilian former professional Mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist who last competed in the Featherweight (MMA), Featherweight division of the Professional Fighters League (PFL). He previously competed ...

for the WSOF Bantamweight Championship on February 12, 2015 in the main event at WSOF 18: Moraes vs Hill. He lost the fight via unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 49-46). After two fights outside of WSOF Hill returned at WSOF 26 to defeat Bekbulat Magomedov via split decision. Hill earned a second shot against

for the WSOF Bantamweight Championship on July 30, 2016 in the main event at WSOF 32: Moraes vs. Hill 2. He lost the fight via TKO in the second round.

Bellator MMA

Josh Hill signed with

in November 2019. His debut fight came against Vinicius Zani at Bellator 239 on February 21, 2020. He won the fight via unanimous decision. Hill faced UFC veteran Érik Pérez at Bellator 244 on August 21, 2020. He won the fight via unanimous decision. Hill faced

Raufeon Stots Raufeon Stots (born December 16, 1988) is an American professional mixed martial artist and graduated collegiate wrestler. He currently competes in the Bantamweight division of Bellator MMA, where he is a former Interim Bellator Bantamweight C ...

at Bellator 258 on May 7, 2021. He lost the bout via unanimous decision. Hill faced Jared Scoggins on December 3, 2021 at

Bellator 272 Bellator 272: Pettis vs. Horiguchi was a mixed martial arts event produced by Bellator MMA that took place on December 3, 2021 at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. Background Sergio Pettis made his first defence of the List of ...

. At the weigh-ins, Jared Scoggins missed weight for his bout, weighing in at 140 pounds, 4 pounds over the bantamweight non-title fight limit. The bout proceeded at catchweight and Scoggins was fined 35% of his purse which went to Hill. Hill would go on to win the fight via KO at 0:56 of round 2. Hill was scheduled to face

Enrique Barzola Enrique Johnatan Barzola Acosta (born 28 April 1989) is a Peruvian mixed martial artist who competes in the Bantamweight and Featherweight divisions of Absolute Championship Akhmat (ACA). He was the lightweight winner on The Ultimate Fighter: ...

on April 22, 2022 at

Bellator 278 ''Bellator 278: Velasquez vs. Carmouche'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by Bellator MMA that took place on April 22, 2022, at the Neal S. Blaisdell Arena in Honolulu, Hawaii Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United St ...

. Due to the pull out of two fighters from the Bellator Bantamweight World Grand Prix due to injuries, the bout was changed to a wild card qualifier for one of the spots in the tournament. Due to Covid, Hill had to pull out of the bout. Hill was scheduled to face Matheus Mattos at

Bellator 284 ''Bellator 284: Gracie vs. Yamauchi'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by Bellator MMA that took place on August 12, 2022, at Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, United States. Background The event marked the promotion's thir ...

on August 12, 2022. However, Mattos pulled out due to a knee injury requiring knee surgery and was replaced by Marcos Breno. Hill lost the bout via unanimous decision. Hill faced Cass Bell on March 10, 2023 at Bellator 292. At the weigh-ins, Cass Bell weighed in at 145.2 pounds, 9.2 pounds over the non-title bantamweight fight limit. The bout proceeded at catchweight with Bell being fined 50% of his purse, which went to Hill. Hill won the fight via split decision. On January 23, 2024, he announced that he was no longer with the promotion.

Oktagon MMA

Signing with Oktagon MMA, Hill faced Jonas Mågård on July 20, 2024 at Oktagon 59, losing via unanimous decision.

Personal life

Josh was a volunteer firefighter before opening his gym and becoming a fulltime fighter. Hill does color commentary for BTC Fight Promotions.

Championships and accomplishments

Mixed martial arts

* Aggression MMA ** Aggression MMA Bantamweight Championship (One time)

Mixed martial arts record

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Bratislava Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...

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Bellator 298 ''Bellator 298: Storley vs. Ward'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by Bellator MMA that took place on August 11, 2023, at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, United States. Background The event marked the promotion's fou ...

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Sioux Falls, South Dakota Sioux Falls ( ) is the List of cities in South Dakota, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Dakota and the List of United States cities by population, 117th-most populous city in the United States. It is the county seat of Minnehaha Coun ...

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Lethbridge, Alberta Lethbridge ( ) is a city in the province of Alberta, Canada. With a population of 106,550 in the 2023 Alberta municipal censuses, 2023 municipal census, Lethbridge became the fourth Alberta city to surpass 100,000 people. The nearby Canadian ...

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Gatineau, Quebec Gatineau ( ; ) is a city in southwestern Quebec, Canada. It is located on the northern bank of the Ottawa River, directly across from Ottawa, Ontario. Gatineau is the largest city in the Outaouais administrative region of Quebec and is also par ...

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Taylor Lapilus Taylor Lapilus (born 8 April 1992) is a French mixed martial artist and boxer who is currently signed to the PFL. He formerly competed in Bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He is also a former TKO Major League MMA ...

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Sochi Sochi ( rus, Сочи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg, from – ''seaside'') is the largest Resort town, resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi (river), Sochi River, along the Black Sea in the North Caucasus of Souther ...

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Everett, Washington Everett (; ) is the county seat and most populous city of Snohomish County, Washington, United States. It is north of Seattle and is one of the main cities in the Seattle metropolitan area, metropolitan area and the Puget Sound region. Everett ...

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Bendy Casimir Bendy Casimir (born June 10, 1980) is a French professional Lightweight mixed martial artist. He has competed for the WEC and M-1 Global. WEC career He made his WEC debut against Ricardo Lamas on March 6, 2010, at WEC 47, losing via first-roun ...

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hill, Josh 1986 births Canadian male mixed martial artists Bantamweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu Canadian practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu Living people Martial artists from Hamilton, Ontario 21st-century Canadian sportsmen