Angela Hill feels Invicta ‘values their fighters’ more than the UFC does

Invicta strawweight Angela Hill has wowed fans with back-to-back TKO victories, over Alida Gray and Stephanie Eggink, in her first two appearances with Invicta Fighting Championships. Those wins have propelled the popular former Ultimate Fighter contestant into her first MMA title fight – versus reigning Invicta strawweight champion Livia Renata Souza.

Hill, who is 4-2, told Bloody Elbow that she has had her eye on Souza since signing with Invicta in late 2015. And it’s fair to say that Hill has been somewhat impressed with what she’s seen from the undefeated champion.

“I think that she’s scrappy and she’s durable,” said Hill, who believes Souza was losing her previous fight, against DeAnna Bennett, before pulling of a first-round TKO victory at Invicta FC 15 in January.

“She’s dangerous off of her back,” added Hill. “She knows how to get some slick trip or weird guard jump attack or something like that.”

Souza, a BJJ black belt under Vinicius Maximo, has won all but two of her nine fights via submission. In preparation for the fight, Hill has worked hard on submission defense, but according to her, this is nothing new.

“I’ve always been drilling that,” said Hill. “Even before my losses where I got submitted, it’s always been a part of my game, it’s always been a huge part, just because most girls my size are coming in with a grappling background. So it’s always gonna be something that people try and go to whenever they fight me.”

Hill, who trains at Alliance MMA in San Diego, also revealed that a former Ultimate Fighter housemate has been especially helpful in preparing her for Livinha’s ground assault.

“I’ve had Jessica Penne here for the last two or three camps, so it’s really benefitted me a lot, just to be able to train with someone who is so good at jiu jitsu, but also good at MMA jiu jitsu, which is a lot different from just grappling with someone who is good at no gi or who’s a good gi grappler, but doesn’t necessarily think about getting punched in the face.”

If the fight with Souza remains standing, where Hill is known for being more potent, ‘Overkill’ is optimistic about ending the fight in a similar fashion to her last two contests.

“The possibility of a knockout is out there,” said Hill. “Her striking, she’s aggressive, but I don’t think that necessarily she’s so slick, or at least not as slick as she is on the ground.”

“I was surprised that her last fight ended with, what was it, a kick to the ribs? Yeah, I was pretty surprised about that, but I think I could take a few, I definitely took a few in my last fight and I was like, meh,” said Hill, before letting out a big laugh.

After her victory over Bennett, Souza stated (per MMAFighting) that she didn’t think any fighter in Invicta was on her level and that she wanted to move to the UFC because of this.

Hill, who fought three times in the UFC, doesn’t like Souza’s chances in the world’s biggest fight promotion. When comparing Souza to her fellow Brazilian, Claudia Gadelha, Hill claimed that Souza would get “trashed” by the UFC’s current number-one-contender.

Additionally, Hill doubts Souza’s personality and brand will convince the UFC to give the Brazilian a promotional push. “She’s not gonna win the popularity contest [in the UFC],” stated Hill. “She’s not winning it in Invicta!”

If you don’t have the look that [the UFC wants], they’re not gonna push you like crazy, so yeah, I dunno, be careful what you wish …

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