LAS VEGAS – Angela Hill knows her fight on Saturday wasn’t easy to score.
The UFC strawweight contender lost a close split decision to fellow former Invicta FC champion Michelle Waterson in the main event of UFC on ESPN+ 35 in Las Vegas. It was a 25-minute affair that had non-post action throughout. Hill (12-9 MMA, 7-9 UFC) understands the fight was competitive, but thought she did enough to get the nod from the judges.
“It sucks, man,” Hill told reporters following her defeat. “I keep ending up in this position where I put my all into getting the finish and getting the decision and it just doesn’t go my way. I definitely felt like I did more damage in that fight.”
Hill took the first two rounds of the fight from two of the three judges. From that point on, things got tougher when Waterson began to find success in the striking department and with a key takedown.
“I lost the third round because I couldn’t get up,” Hill said. “I felt bad about kicking her in the face, but I was aiming for the chest. And then the fourth, I didn’t go forward enough. I was worried about the takedown too much. In the fifth, I finally said (explicit) it and went forward and did everything that I should’ve done in the fourth round, and I still didn’t get that fifth round. It sucks.
“It was close. This fight was a lot closer than the (Claudia) Gadelha fight when it came to strikes landed because she was landing some push kicks to the face and a couple of side kicks when I was hesitating. I thought this fight was closer than the last one. I tried to blitz her, but I felt like I did way more damage. It sucks I’m on the losing end again. I have to start taking (explicit) down again, hugging them more.”
Prior to the Waterson defeat, Hill dropped another split decision to former UFC title challenger Gadelha. It was a controversial result.
Hill plans to stay ready following her second straight loss and is no stranger to taking short-notice fights. The 35-year-old also wants to shift more focus on her wrestling since that may be a factor that could help her avoid split decision losses in the future.
“I think I’m just going to stay ready, stay grinding in the gym, and I think it’s important to start working on takedowns in my game plan just to switch things up,” Hill said. “I’ve said it every time I’ve had a loss like this where it was a close decision, or I felt like I got robbed: Every time I’ve had a fight like that, a takedown would’ve made a world of difference just because the way MMA is scored. That’s a big thing I need to sit down and work on.”
Angela Hill: ‘I did way more damage’ than Michelle Waterson at UFC on ESPN+ 35
