No. 8 ranked contender Mackenzie Dern looked to continue her climb up the strawweight rankings as she squared off with the always-active Angela Hill in the UFC Vegas 73 main event on Saturday night. Hill, sitting in the No. 14 spot in the rankings, had a chance to thrust herself into the division’s top ten, should she leave The APEX with arguably the biggest win of her mixed martial arts career.
Both women came out ready to throw hands from the opening bell. Surprisingly, Dern appeared to have the advantage on the feet which allowed her to put pressure on Hill early. Throwing ‘Overkill’ off-balance with some beautiful striking, Dern was able to take things to the mat where she nearly locked in an arm bar, but simply ran out of time in the opening round.
Hill was able to slow things down and potentially even things up in the second round, but the pace most certainly picked up again in the third with Dern landing a massive knee that rocked Hill. Dern took the opportunity to drag Hill to the canvas once again and easily slipped into a full mount. Dern delivered an onslaught of strikes, but Hill continued moving and defending, preventing the ref from stepping in. Miraculously, Hill survived the round.
The final 10 minutes of the contest was all Dern as the Brazilian jiu-jitsu beauty took Hill down at will and punished her for a majority of the remaining two rounds en route to a unanimous decision victory.
Official Result: Mackenzie Dern def. Angela Hill via unanimous decision (49-43, 49-44, 45-44)
