The UFC has moved around some fights which has resulted in a new headliner in a couple of weeks. Strawweights Mackenzie Dern (12-3) and Angela Hill (15-12) were originally set to face off against each other this weekend in a three-round fight.
However, after Irene Aldana – Raquel Pennington was scrapped in favor of Aldana’s title shot against Amanda Nunes, UFC Vegas 73 needed a new main event. MMA Fighting first reported this morning that the matchup between Dern and Hill was being pushed to next week and it’ll be the new main event. The fight will be five rounds.
For Angela Hill, she’s going to be looking for her third consecutive win. This winning streak comes on the heels of a stretch of very bad luck for the strawweight contender. Hill had a stretch where she went 1-5 in six fights.
However, three of those losses came via split decision. In all three of those fights, you can easily make the argument that Hill won. Had those decisions gone in her favor, her standing in the division would likely be much different.
UFC Vegas 73 Headliner
Mackenzie Dern returned from having her daughter and immediately lost to Amanda Ribas back in 2019. She just didn’t look as sharp and seemed to have rushed her comeback. However, she then went on a four-fight winning streak and emerged as a top contender in the division.
She then lost to Marina Rodriguez which derailed her momentum. In that fight, it was clear that her striking still needed to get much better. She bounced back with a close win over Tecia Torres before dropping her next bout against Yan Xiaonan.
This is a big fight for Dern and she needs to get as big win to get back on track. She needs to show improved striking, improved takedowns, and she just needs to be sharp. If she can look great against the surging Hill, things start to look up again for Dern as a UFC title contender.