Angela Hill | The Veteran Stalwart Returns

All too often in this sport, we get too fixated on wins and losses, measuring success in championships and nothing else, oblivious to the reality that competing at this level is incredibly difficult and sticking around for multiple years is itself a victory. 

We see results columns highlighted green or red on Wikipedia and Tapology, forgetting, at times, how each of those results came about, and that buried inside those “Ws” and “Ls” are details that extend beyond a tick in one column of the other.

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Few fighters have a resume that merits greater contextualizing than Hill, who carries a 12-14 UFC record into her bout with Souza this weekend.

She’s only been finished twice in her career — once early on against Rose Namajunas, and then again a couple years into her return to the promotion by fellow TUF 20 alum Randa Markos — and has quite literally learned on the job against some of the best 115-pound fighters in the world.

She’s landed on the wrong side of a split decision verdict four times and been handed several other tough-to-swallow setbacks on the scorecards, as well, perpetually getting close to breaking through to the top tier of the weight class only to come up short against one of the division’s elite, including Jessica Andrade, Yan Xiaonan, Claudia Gadelha, Michelle Waterson-Gomez, Amanda Lemos, Virna Jandiroba, Mackenzie Dern, and Tabatha Ricci.

“I think the only time I really kick myself is when I see what these people end up doing, because they end up doing things that I want to do,” Hill said in regard to the untimely setbacks that have checkered her career. “I wanted that rematch with Yan Xiaonan, which is another fight I think I won, and I think my career has been marred with all these close decisions — or obvious decisions that somehow went the other way to the point where it has become meme-able — and I don’t want that to be the thing I’m known for: I don’t want to be the person who got robbed all the time.

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“If I could take it out of the judges’ hands, that would be great, but, at the same time, I’m one of the smaller strawweights,” she added. “It’s tough to get those knockouts, so I’ve been focusing a lot more on my grappling recently, and I think that has gotten me a lot closer to getting those consistent wins, getting in a position where I can be on top and make it obvious.

“I’m hoping not to have to go to a decision these next few fights, especially with it being towards the end of my career, because I don’t trust the judges; I don’t know if they see the strikes I throw. But it’s part of the game that I have to deal with, I chose this life, and I’m trying to make the best of it that I can.”

The engaging San Diego-based strawweight is one of several active fighters that moonlights as an analyst and doing commentary, having worked on both The Weigh-In Show and the fight desk during UFC events, and she jumped on the mic for several Cage Warriors shows, as well as co-hosting a successful podcast, Two Straws, with former title challenger and BFF Jessica Penne.

It’s clearly something Hill is passionate about and will unquestionably be a part of her post-fighting career, but right now, it remains her side gig, and she’s pretty clear on when she’ll know it’s time to make broadcasting her primary focus.

“When I can’t beat up the kids anymore!” Hill said, chasing her words with a chuckle when asked about figuring out when it’s time to hang up the gloves. “When I can’t spank the kids, that’s when it’s time to hang it up.

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“I’ve had moments where I’ll spar someone who is this young person coming into the UFC and I’m like, ‘Ugh — I don’t know if I can hang,’ and then the second round comes, and I’m like, ‘Oh, I’m good!’

“It’s not a matter of being too old or having to hang it up because I’m chinny or can’t compete,” she added. “I think the performances will tell me whether it’s time to hang it up or not. I think the excitement of getting up in the morning to go to training will tell me, too.”
 

This weekend, the Top 15 mainstay is in a familiar position, paired off with another one of those “kids” she’s routinely beaten over the years, as she steps in with the 29-year-old Souza.

Like Hill, the Brazilian is a former Invicta FC titleholder, and touches down in Las Vegas on a two-fight winning streak, having followed up her first UFC win with a Performance of the Night-winning effort against Yazmin Jauregui at UFC 306 back in September.

“We don’t really know much because she just got into the UFC,” Hill said of Souza, who is making her fourth appearance in the Octagon this weekend. “Her first fight was against someone that was bigger than her, so we don’t know much.

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“I think she looked beatable when she was matched against Yazmin, and she was able to land a good shot, but I do think Yazmin was doing a good job against her up until that moment.”

Jauregui was having success, using her movement and snappy jab to pick at Souza before a second low blow in the opening round brought the contest to a momentary pause. When they re-started, Souza clobbered her Mexican counterpart with a left hook that sent her tumbling to the canvas, and before Jauregui could gather her wits, Souza was deep on the rear-naked choke that ended the fight.

“I feel like I match up well against her and I’ll be able to use my veteran wiles against her; I think I’m more athletic, as well,” continued Hill, who is looking to get back to the form that produced quality wins over Loopy Godinez, Denise Gomes, and Luana Pinheiro. “I think I have a lot of skills to come at her with, but you’ve gotta be tight, you can’t get too loose because she does have power.

“I respect her as an opponent, but I have a lot of confidence coming into this.”

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One of the most active fighters on the roster over the last decade, the 40-year-old is hoping that a mid-February start to her 2025 campaign will allow her to get back to competing three or four times this year, as is her preference, but she understands this is a results-based business, which is why she’s not just looking for a victory this weekend, but to do it without needing to consult the judges.

“Because she’s a little green, because she’s new in the UFC, I think this is a person I could potentially finish,” said Hill, hopeful that things work out as she’s envisioning. “If I’m able to get that, it gives me a better chance to get that fast turnaround.

“It’s definitely something that I'm going for,” she added. “I really wanna get that finish.”