UFC Fight Night 166: Blaydes vs Dos Santos - Predictions and Picks

#4 Hannah Cifers vs. Angela Hill

Angela Hill is a longtime UFC veteran

Another somewhat strange pick for a main card bout, these two Strawweights are both coming off wins – Cifers has two in a row, in fact – and yet due to relatively recent losses, they’re also miles away from the title picture.

Angela Hill has fought the majority of her professional career in the UFC; she went 1-2 in an initial, post-TUF run with the promotion before being released, and then won Invicta’s Strawweight title, going 4-0 there before her 2017 return. Since then she’s been very much up-and-down, going 4-5 in the years that have followed.

The biggest strength ‘Overkill’ has is her striking; a formidable kickboxer, Hill’s lanky frame – she stands at just 5’3”, but has a 64” reach – means that she can chain together combinations from range, and while she doesn’t pack a serious amount of power, she’s more than capable of doing plenty of damage, and her technical skills are solid too.

In terms of weaknesses, that lack of power usually allows her opponents to stay in the fight – and due to her relatively undeveloped ground game, it’s often become easy for foes to outwork her down the stretch to pick up a decision.

Cifers is a little harder to get a grasp on; she was overwhelmed by Maycee Barber’s aggression in her UFC debut, and although she’s since beaten Jodie Esquibel and Polyana Viana, neither performance was truly convincing. She largely outpointed both opponents standing, but Viana in all honesty isn’t a UFC-level fighter, while Esquibel is miles past her prime at this point.

It’s worth noting that Cifers does have the same reach as Hill, meaning ‘Overkill’ may not be able to snipe at her as easily from the outside as she’s done to some opponents in the past, but overall I like her technical striking to be enough to edge a decision in this one.

The Pick: Hill via split decision