Preview: UFC 322 Prelims

Women’s Strawweights

Fatima Kline (8-1, 2-1 UFC) vs. Angela Hill (18-15, 13-15 UFC)

BETTING ODDS: Kline (-470), Hill (+360)

Even at age 40, Hill remains a consistently effective gatekeeper. Hill was essentially thrown to the wolves at the start of her mixed martial arts career. Part of the UFC’s launch of its women’s strawweight division through “The Ultimate Fighter,” Hill was signed after just one professional fight and unsurprisingly wound up quickly out of her depth and outside the promotion. However, as soon as “Overkill” got a step back in competition, she proved to be a surprisingly quick study. Her 2016 campaign saw her rack up four wins in 10 months, becoming Invicta Fighting Championships’ strawweight titleholder and earning a return trip to the UFC. Since her return, Hill has been a divisional stalwart thanks to her effectiveness and her willingness to keep a busy schedule; at one point, she managed to make six trips to the Octagon over the course of just 11 months. Hill has ironed out her issues managing her pace and cardio, and as someone who was never an elite athlete to begin with, she hasn’t had to overcompensate for much athletic slippage. In recent years, she has even built out some sneakily effective wrestling and grappling to supplement the striking that has always been at the core of her game. While Hill remains a perennial tough out—she has never been knocked out, and her last submission loss was in 2019—she does constantly get reminded of her athletic ceiling while on prospect-testing duty, most recently in an August loss to Iasmin Lucindo. Hill now looks for a rebound win against Kline, a well-regarded prospect still looking to break out.

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A standout grappler, Kline quickly gained some hype as someone who overwhelmed opponent after opponent, even if it was unclear how well her game would translate to the UFC level. Kline is clearly well-practiced but might not be the level of powerhouse to make that approach work as she climbed up the ranks. Kline’s debut assignment in the UFC was a tough one, as she moved up to flyweight on late notice and got stifled by Jasmine Jasudavicius, but her last two fights have served as a reminder of her potential. Back in her natural weight class, she mauled and eventually finished Victoria Dudakova and Melissa Martinez. This pairing marks a major step up in competition but a winnable one for Kline. Hill can get dragged into losing an ugly fight, and while she has held up well, her age does make it a concern that she could see a sudden drop-off with every fight. Even so, Kline still has a somewhat one-dimensional game without having a major athletic advantage—a combination that Hill still seems quite capable of staying ahead of. The pick is Hill via decision.

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