Tomorrow night in the co-main event of UFC Vegas 96, we are going to see a strawweight matchup with a spot in the top ten on the line. Angela Hill (17-13) will look to defend her spot in the top ten as she takes on 11th ranked Tabatha Ricci (10-2).
Starting with Tabatha Ricci, she is going to be looking for her second straight win tomorrow night. The last time we saw “Baby Shark” was back in May at UFC St. Louis when she took on a returning Tecia Pennington. It was a razor close fight that saw Ricci win by split decision. That came on the heels of her split decision loss to Loopy Godinez. Overall, she’s 5-2 since making the jump to the UFC.
She’ll be taking one of the toughest women in the division tomorrow when she takes on the veteran Angela Hill (17-13). Hill has always been one of the better strawweights in the promotion, but she’s really been a victim to some tough decisions. In 2020, she had a three-fight win streak that led her to a fight against former title challenger, Claudia Gadelha.
Starting with that fight, she went 1-5 in her next six but lost three split decisions all that could have easily gone her way. Since that tough stretch, she’s bounced back very well going 4-1 in her last five including back-to-back victories leading up to UFC Vegas 96.
UFC Vegas 96 Prediction
Tabatha Ricci’s striking is improving and we’ve seen that in her last couple of fights. However, we know that she wants to land takedowns and use her grappling to control things. She’s going to do that against Angela Hill. If she decides to stand at range with Hill, she’s going to get outpointed.
For Angela Hill, she needs to keep this fight at range. If she can keep Ricci off of her and make this a distance striking match, it’s right there for her to win her third straight fight. Ricci is going to make this an ugly fight and that fits her fighting style.
I hate to say this for Angela Hill, but I think we are in store for another close decision at UFC Vegas 96. I think Ricci will have some grappling success, but it won’t be dominant. On the flip side, Hill is going to outstrike Ricci from the outside. It’s going to come down to the bigger moments, and I think those go to Angela Hill.
Prediction: Angela Hill by Decision