Mackenzie Dern vs Angela Hill added to UFC Fight Night 224
We’ve got a number of exciting bouts expected to take place at UFC Fight Night 224, going down live on May 13, 2023, from a to-be-determined venue and location.
Headlining the event is a light-heavyweight match up between former title challenger Anthony Smith and fellow dangerous striker Johnny Walker. We’ve also got exciting bouts showcasing a welterweight affair between Matt Brown and Court McGee, as well as a heavyweight bout between the surging Jailton Almeida and former kickboxing champion Jairzinho Rozenstruik.
Another intriguing clash going down at this event comes in the strawweight division between Mackenzie Dern and Angela Hill, a perfect striker versus grappler showcase.
Mackenzie Dern has widely been considered the greatest female grappler on the planet, and for good reason. She’s a multi-time world champion in the sport, including gold medals at the ADCC World Championships, ADCC North American Championships, two golds at the World Jiu-Jitsu Championships, two golds at the no-gi World Jiu-Jitsu Championships, the Pan American Jiu-Jitsu Championships, three golds at the World Cup and many, many more.
That doesn’t even count all her bronze and silver medals, or the other half of her golds.
In total, Dern has medaled at 14 world and national tournaments, winning 31 medals including 22 gold, four silver, and five bronze medals. That’s a seriously accomplished grappler, and it probably goes without saying she’s a BJJ black belt.
Dern made her MMA debut in 2016, coming over to the UFC with a record of 5-0 less than two years later in 2018; one of those wins came via submission (rear naked choke) over fellow UFC talent Montana De La Rosa.
Dern would win her first two promotional bouts before losing a unanimous decision to top 10 talent Amanda Ribas. She’d go on to win her next four-straight with three submissions (two armbars, one kneebar), securing two Submission of the Year candidates in 2020 alone.
She’d then lose a unanimous decision to no. 5 ranked Marina Rodriguez, before going 1-1 over her latest two appearances: defeating Tecia Torres via split decision and losing a five-round majority decision to Yan Xiaonan.
Many people weren’t happy at the result of the Xiaonan fight; yes, she did lose three rounds to two, but her grappling was so dominant in those two rounds that many believed it should have been a draw. Some even believe she deserved 10-8’s in both rounds she won.
Nonetheless, she goes into her fight with Hill on a loss.
Angela Hill on the other hand, much different than Dern, got her start in kickboxing, where she went 16-0 before making the switch to MMA. She was cast on The Ultimate Fighter 20 with a record of just 1-0, and she’d lose her lone fight on the show to eventual champion Carla Esparza (rear naked choke).
Following a win in her promotional debut, Hill would lose her next two-straight prior to being cut from the promotion.
In her time away, Hill signed with Invicta FC where she rattled off back-to-back knockout victories, both of which awarded her Performance of the Night bonuses, before winning, and defending the Invicta strawweight championship, both in five-round affairs.
This got her another contract with the UFC, though her promotional tenure remained rocky for a time, going 3-5 through her first eight bouts on her second stint with the promotion.
Hill then rattled off three-straight victories, before dropping back-to-back split decisions. She’d win her next fight, and at this point, many believed she should’ve been on a six-fight win streak. Merely no one thought she lost those split decisions.
Nonetheless, another three-straight defeats would follow, one of them also controversially, before winning her last two coming into her bout with Dern this May.
Who wins this epic strawweight encounter at UFC FN 224?
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