UFC Fort Lauderdale took place this past Saturday and in one of the first three fights of the night, we saw Jodie Esquibel face off with Angela Hill (9-6) in a strawweight tilt.
Originally, this fight was supposed to be Esquibel vs Jessica Penne as it was a rebooking after their bout fell through at UFC Phoenix in February. Instead, Penne’s good friend and teammate in Hill would fill in for her after some undisclosed medical issues pulled her from the bout. Hill would go on to win the fight via unanimous decision after a stellar showing and now she’ll look to put together a winning streak.
Felice Herrig announced yesterday that a torn ACL has forced her from her highly anticipated match-up with rising Chinese contender, Yan Xiaonan (10-1) at UFC 238 on June 8 in Chicago, Illinois. ESPN has now confirmed with UFC officials that Hill will replace her fellow season 20 of The Ultimate Fighter alumni.
“Hello. Uh, crutches. That’s never a good thing, and it’s not. Unfortunately, Friday I tore my ACL, and I do need surgery, which means that I will not be fighting on June 8, which is a bummer for sure. I just want to say I’m sorry to the fans, to the UFC and most definitely my opponent. I hope that she gets a replacement. There’s still enough time. As for me, what can you do? All I can do is move forward and work on my recovery… and come back stronger than ever. In the meantime, I hope that everybody sends me warm wishes and hugs and virtual kisses and prayers. Just know that I’ll be back.” Herrig said via Instagram post.
For the highly touted Xiaonan, this will be her fourth UFC bout as she looks to collect her fourth straight victory in the promotion. She hasn’t lost since her third professional fight in September 2010.
Despite no longer facing a ranked opponent, a win here could still propel her into the UFC’s top 15 rankings thus making her only the second fighter from China to ever be ranked. The first being her fellow strawweight contender, Weili Zhang.