Livia Renata Souza rips ‘irrelevant’ Angela Hill ahead of Invicta FC title defense

Livia Renata Souza defends the Invicta FC strawweight title against Angela Hill at Saturday’s Invicta FC 17 in Costa Mesa, Calif., and she’s not impressed by Hill’s resurgence under the promotion’s banner.

Hill, who fought most of her career under the UFC banner, made her promotional debut in January with a quick finish over Alida Gray. Less than two months later, “Overkill” improved to 2-0 at Invicta FC with a second-round win against Stephanie Eggink.

“I chose to fight her,” Souza told MMA Fighting. “They offered me another fighter (Mizuki Inoue), but I chose Angela Hill because of her two quick wins at Invicta and because she’s a UFC veteran. It’s time to test myself, despite the fact that I don’t think she’s as good as people think she is here in the United States.”

Despite Hill’s recent wins, Souza, who stopped Katja Kankaanpaa to win the strawweight belt and finished DeAnna Bennett in 90 seconds to defend it in January, doesn’t seem impressed with her opponent’s skillset.

“She’s very traditional,” said the champion. “I train with a lot of muay thai fighters and I don’t think she’s that different. I’m not that same old ‘Livinha’ that wanted to grapple immediately. Wherever the fight goes, I’ll be fine. I just want to put my hands on her face and fight consistently. If I have to grapple, everybody knows how this fight will end.

“She beat Alida Gray and everybody knows she’s a veteran and doesn’t have the same cardio and energy anymore, and everybody knows she was never a great athlete anyway. And Stephany (Eggink) is a great athlete, but was out for two years due to pregnancy and felt the layoff,” she …

continue reading in source www.mmafighting.com