Angela Hill vs. Ashley Yoder 2 is set to headline this Saturday’s preliminary ESPN+ portion of the UFC Fight Night: Edwards vs. Muhammad card. This rematch is taking place from the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, on March 13. This match-up was originally scheduled for the UFC Fight Night on Feb. 27, but was postponed by two weeks due to a positive COVID test from one of Yoder’s corner members, according to ESPN.
Angela Hill vs. Ashley Yoder 2 Preview
Angela Hill
Angela Hill (12-9), a former Invicta champion, is currently ranked 12th in the women’s strawweight division, and she is hungry to get back in the win column. In her last two bouts, she lost via a close split decision to both Michelle Waterson (18-8) and Cláudia Gadelha (18-5). Hill, in both her losses, with a greater volume of striking output, slightly out-landed both fighters in significant strikes, and also defended 90% of the takedowns out of 22 attempted. She is a volume Muay Thai-based striker.
Ashley Yoder
Ashley Yoder (8-6) is coming off her most recent victory against Miranda Granger (7-2), via a unanimous decision. Yoder is a blackbelt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and 50% of her victories have been by way of submission. Yoder looks for takedowns to advance submission or ground and pound.
The Match-up
Since their first fight, Hill and Yoder have had major growth as fighters. Their first meeting was in 2017 with Hill taking the decision. In this fight, the two combatants had a combined 16 fights, and now the two have more than doubled their experience at 32 fights combined.
Hill strategically looks to keep her opponents at a distance and strike from range. “Overkill” Hill mixes combinations extremely well. She opens most exchanges with a jab, or jab feint, then mixes body, head, and leg combinations to great effect. This is her greatest strength; feints, volume, combinations, mixing high and low. This strategy worked well in their first meeting in which Hill landed nearly double the amount of Yoder in strikes.
Where Angela Hill sometimes lacks is that she will throw the same combination. In her recent fight with Gadelha, Hill was throwing the same combination that worked in Round 2, but in Round 3, Gadelha had figured it out and was able to counter it.
Hill also excels in takedown defense. Most recently against The Karate Hottie Michelle Waterson, Hill defended 17 of 18 takedown attempts. Against Gadelha, Angela Hill gave up 1 takedown out of 4 of Gadelha’s attempts, and it was an advance from the clinch position.
In the first meeting between Hill and Yoder, Yoder only landed 50% of her takedowns with success, and Hill was able to advance off her back to standing or a dominant position. Yoder initiated the takedowns and was only able to keep a controlling position for a few minutes and landed 0 ground and pound strikes.
Yoder will be looking to mimic the success Gadelha had against Hill. Yoder in her recent fight against Miranda Granger was much smoother in her takedown success. Rather than shooting from range, she mixed strikes into clinching, into takedowns. And from her takedowns, she kept control statistically for over half of the entire fight.
Strategically, both fighters will be looking similar to their first fight, but tactically quite different. Both fighters, Hill and Yoder, have grown a lot. Hill will be looking to keep distance and land combination strikes, set-up with feints, to keep Yoder guessing. Yoder will be looking to draw Hill into exchanges and move to clinch and advance to a takedown.
Considering the growth both fighters have had, it will make for a very fun stylistic match-up. Hill is looking to prove that she is still a game fighter and is hungry to get back in the win column. Yoder is looking for revenge, to erase a loss, and keep her win streak active. Which fighter will potentially enter the top 10 with a win?
Angela Hill vs. Ashley Yoder 2 will broadcast this Saturday, March 13th on UFC Fight Night: Edwards vs. Muhammad on ESPN+.
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