Las Vegas – UFC strawweight Angela Hill finally had a split decision go her way at UFC Vegas 102 when she defeated Ketlen Souza on Saturday night.
Hill (18-14) had never won a split-decision during her UFC run which was the running joke when it came to her fights going to the judges.
“I can’t believe it that I won a split decision! I’m flabbergasted,” Hill laughed with reporters including Cageside Press at her post-fight scrum.
“I’m lost for words. Last time I got a split-decision win it wasn’t in the UFC. Seven split decisions later I finally got one.”
At 40-years-old Hill is past the point where most fighters are regressing notably, but she feels like she’s still evolving as a martial artists. Hearing praise from Daniel Cormier, who was in the commentary booth, made it extra special.
“I love getting that praise, specially someone like DC, who has done that. He’s been the dad champ and he has had to evolve in the arena and do what it takes to keep up with the kids. If I had approached this fight like I did in the past, and just tried to stand and bang, I might not be sitting here right now,” she said.
“I’m happy to get that recognition because I feel like I’m getting better every fight. I know that’s wild to say at the old age of 40. They should have taken me out to pasture and shoot me five years ago.”
Hill might not be ready to call it a career, but she’s been making moves in order to prepare herself for her post-fighting career. One of her ventures is the Two Straws Podcast that she does with former UFC strawweight Jessica Penne.
“It’s fun. I’ve been working on my talking as you can tell, but it helps me get ready for that part of my career. You don’t learn it overnight. We’ve been doing our little dumb podcast for like, I think our first one was 8 years ago, and if you saw it you’d laugh. Basically I had to get drunk in order to get in front of the camera and talk,” Hill told Cageside Press.
Her co-host, Penne, was one of many former UFC fighters who were drafted in the inaugural Global Fight League draft.
“It’s super exciting! Also Cat Zingano got drafted, she’s a person who’s been really close in our group of friends out there in San Diego. A handful of girls that we trained with so it’s exciting,” said Hill.
“Hopefully it pans out to be something successful and doesn’t fizzle away. I’m definitely optimistic about GFL and I can’t wait to see my friends get paid.”
Watch the entire post-fight scrum with Angela Hill above.
