Women’s Strawweights
#13 WSW | Emily Ducote (12-6, 1-0 UFC) vs. #12 WSW | Angela Hill (14-12, 9-12 UFC)Hill is back on gatekeeper duty in what should be an enjoyable pairing. Hill’s career is a clear success story, given that she was essentially thrown to the wolves in her first UFC stint. A late comer to mixed martial arts, Hill had all of one professional fight coming off her season of “The Ultimate Fighter” in 2014. “Overkill” unsurprisingly washed out of the UFC shortly thereafter—getting matched against Tecia Torres and Rose Namajunas was particularly cruel in retrospect—but a breakout 2016 campaign saw Hill run through the Invicta Fighting Championships strawweight division and quickly earn her way back onto the UFC roster. From there, she has essentially been the litmus test for fighters to get into the UFC’s Top 15, gaining a following thanks to her willingness to fight as often as possible. This marks her third fight of 2022, and that ranks as one of the slower paces of her career in terms of fights within a calendar year. As a fighter, she is essentially well-rounded to a fault after smoothing out her weaknesses. She has gone from having cardio issues to becoming a consistent three-round fighter, and her wrestling defense is still uneven but greatly improved, as demonstrated in her August win over Lupita Godinez. While she is a perennially tough out, Hill is not a particularly dominant physical force, a reality that often leaves her unable to put together impactful moments over the course of her fights; it is not a surprise that she has become quite notorious for losing some controversial split decisions. At any rate, it will be interesting to see what Ducote can get done in this assignment, as an impressive victory may mark her as someone who can quickly find a path towards title contention. A pro since 2015, Ducote took a few years to figure things out. “Gordinha” struggled a bit as a flyweight submission specialist in Bellator MMA before finding much more success as a strawweight. The cut down has given Ducote a lot more physical parity, and she has helped things along by developing a patient but often powerful striking attack. Overall, Ducote has turned into a well-rounded and calculated fighter who has proven quite capable of dictating the terms of her fights. In her UFC debut against Jessica Penne in July, that meant Ducote keeping the action on the feet, where she was able to chop down the Alliance MMA product with leg kicks and then dominate the latter stretches of the fight. It will be interesting to see how she approaches her latest challenge, because Hill is a much more mobile opponent and it remains unclear how well Ducote’s wrestling will fare. Ducote has moved away from that part of her game as matchups have dictated recently, and Hill is coming off that excellent performance against Godinez. The bet is that Hill can make things frustrating enough to take advantage of the Oklahoman’s patience before Ducote starts taking the fight over late. However, this looks like yet another Hill fight that could go either way, both on paper and in practice. The pick is Hill via decision.
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