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UFC strawweight contender Angela Hill has never been a fan of the promotion’s ranking system. Just a couple of days away from her main event match against Mackenzie Dern at UFC Vegas 73, ‘Overkill’ shared her thoughts on a system she considers to ultimately be disrespectful and unfair.
Angela Hill was highly critical of the UFC rankings
At last Wednesday’s media day, Hill explained to reporters exactly what she thought about the rankings and the circumstances behind her reasoning. From her experience, the 38-year-old believes that the system never helped her, which is why she has a hard time breaking into her division’s top 10. Furthermore, Overkill, also believes the company treats her as a gatekeeper for the top 15.
“The rankings are bullsh*t,” Hill said (transcribed by MMA Junkie). “The rankings have always disrespected me. Every time one of you guys say, ‘Oh, you’re going to be in the rankings. Oh, you’re going to be in the top 10. Oh, you’re going to be in the top 15 after this fight.’ It doesn’t happen.”
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Though Hill, who currently sits at the 14th spot in the top 15, is facing an opponent several spots ahead of her in the rankings, the 38-year-old’s past experiences tell her she shouldn’t get her hopes up with a win over number 8 strawweight Dern.
“If anything, if I fight someone who has a number by their name, they don’t have a number by their name after I beat them. So I’m not expecting much from the rankings.”
Hill believes the pairing favors her style
Though Hill feels disgruntled about the rankings system, she also acknowledges that headlining a card against a well-known figure who’s several spots ahead of her can’t hurt. Since the pairing against Dern represents a classic striker vs. grappler match, Overkill intends to take advantage of her opponent’s lacking striking technique to score what could be the best win of her UFC career.
In fact, having studied her oppontent closely Hill believes Dern has more holes in her game that a striker such as herself can exploit than the other way around for the accomplished Brazilian jiu-jitsu blackbelt.
“There’s a lot I can do with the way she comes forward, with the way she doesn’t care about her chin being thrown in the air,” Hill explained. “There’s a lot of areas I feel I can capitalize on, and I don’t feel she has as many opportunities to capitalize on my mistakes.”
Catch Angela Hill and Mackenzie Dern at UFC Vegas 73
Currently on a two-fight winning streak, Angela Hill (15-12) will look to make it three in a row after scoring unanimous decision wins over Emily Ducote and Lupita Godinez, respectively in December and August 2022. Before that, the 38-year-old went through the worst moment of her entire MMA career, losing three fights in a row from August 2021 to May 2022. During that time, Overkill lost to Tecia Torres, Amanda Lemos and Virna Jandiroba, all by way of decision.
Meanwhile, Mackenzie Dern (12-3) has seen better days in her UFC career. Having lost two out of her last three outings, the 30-year-old’s split decision win is over Tecia Torres is sandwiched between decision losses to Marina Rodriguez and Yan Xiaonan, respectively in October 2021 and October 2022.
Now, Angela Hill is expected to take on Mackenzie Dern at UFC Vegas 73’s main event, on May 20. The UFC Apex is scheduled to feature a middleweight bout between Edmen Shabazyan and Anthony Hernandez in its co-main event.
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