Preview: UFC Fight Night 186 Main Card

Women’s Strawweights

#12 | Angela Hill (12-9, 7-9 UFC) vs. NR | Ashley Yoder (8-6, 3-5 UFC)

ODDS: Hill (-325), Yoder (+265)

This rematch was thrown together on about a week’s notice, and that seems about right for Hill, who has made a name for herself thanks to her willingness to take any fight available. Hill was essentially thrown to the wolves in her first UFC stint. She only had one professional bout prior to her stint on “The Ultimate Fighter” and was quickly rushed into one-sided losses against the much more established Tecia Torres and Rose Namajunas. Hill figured to make her way back to the UFC at some point, but she wound up improving much quicker than anyone could have expected. It took her less than a year to put together four straight wins and become the Invicta Fighting Championships strawweight titleholder. Hill impressed in a loss to Jessica Andrade upon her return, and since then, it has been a mostly successful if often frustrating career. Hill has now gotten to the point where she is pretty solid in every aspect of a fight, but that comes at the expense of any one standout skill that allows her to truly put a stamp on a victory. Since her return, Hill has never been truly out of a fight—save for one excellent performance from Randa Markos—but few of her wins have been particularly overwhelming. Her 2020 campaign was a mixed bag. On the plus side, she finally got some notice for taking six fights over the course of 11 months, but what could have been breakthrough wins against Claudia Gadelha and Michelle Waterson wound up as losses by the narrowest margins. Hill looks to rebound here in a rematch with Yoder, who has been a frustrating talent in her own right. Yoder has gone from a one-dimensional grappler to a more well-rounded fighter over the course of her UFC career, but a lack of consistency has made her fights a bit of a mess, resulting in some frustratingly close losses of her own. Defeats to Markos and Livinha Souza easily could have gone her way and put her on a five-fight winning streak. Her aggression and size could give Hill some issues, but the latter looks strong enough at this point that she should be able to head off any attempts from Yoder to make it her type of fight. The pick is Hill via decision.

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