Tecia Torres will meet Angela Hill at UFC 265 in a rematch six years in the making.
When the pair first met, both fighters were fresh off their stints on The Ultimate Fighter. Torres, only 5-0 at the time, and Hill with only two bouts to her name. After sharing their first 15 minutes officially in the UFC together, it would be Torres who emerged the victor. She would go on an impressive five-fight tear from there, losing only to future champion Rose Namajunas, before suddenly losing four fights to the division’s top talents. However, since then she has accumulated an impressive two victory’s and will meet Hill in an attempt to make it three.
While Torres was making her way through her next 11 opponents, Hill was picking up the pace, fighting a total of 19 times since their first meeting. Although she may have had mixed results going just 11-8, a consistent theme to her appearances was improvement. Hill seems to come back an evolved version of herself each time, hanging with fighters who seemed out of her league just a year or so prior.
On Saturday, this rematch will seek to answer the question: Will Tecia Torres be able to continue her latest run in the UFC by defeating the woman who began her first? Or will Angela Hill prove she has evolved enough over the past six years to avenge her first UFC loss?
Torres vs. Hill betting odds
The odds between these two women are extremely close at the moment. With a slight edge as a favorite, Tecia Torres comes in at -135 as of the writing of this article.
- Tecia Torres: -135
- Angela Hill: +105
Torres vs. Hill breakdown
For the most part, fighters who are especially explosive tend to have difficulty maintaining a higher output, and fighters who are known for their work rate are typically less known for their explosiveness. What’s so scary about Tecia Torres is she has some of the fastest and most powerful striking in the women’s strawweight division while also maintaining an incredibly high pace.
Her style revolves around blitzing movement, where she throws barrages of strikes at a time. She mixes things up well, using a variety of strikes often utilizing the jab, low kick combination as well as her superman punch and right high kick. Her diversity is so impressive, that she will even find a way to throw in the rare axe kicks when teeing off on her opponent.
Her wrestling is also explosive, and when she chooses to engage in this area, expect fast reactive takedowns. Her takedown defense is well educated, and she is quick to stuff the head and stop shots early in the sequence. However, if she does have fault anywhere, it’s in her ability to exit the clinch when she is trapped against the cage. While avoiding the takedown against the fence, she sometimes gives up small fundamental details such as head position, and the results are stalled-out sequences where her opponents can score on the cards.
Angela Hill is a very difficult fighter to prepare for. She is extremely fluid and has some of the cleanest Muay Thai skills at 115-pounds. With a reach of 64 inches, she has almost 4 inches of advantage over Torres, an element she knows very well how to exploit. Although in general, her game reflects her Muay Thai background, she finds most of her success through boxing. Using her range, Hill is very good at landing on the end of her punches, where her opponent can’t counter and where her impact has the most snap.
In order to land, Hill is specifically adept at using angles, she will angle off the line left, and land a very rangy right punch, somewhere between a cross and an overhand. Techniques like this are often hidden by high-paced footwork, Hill will both bounce back and forth and stutter step to off-throw her opponent’s timing. Sometimes she will step forward as if to advance, just to retreat, forcing her opponent to stay guessing, and reacting at the wrong moments. By doing so she also invites her opponent’s attack in order to counter at her longer boxing range.
Torres vs. Hill prediction
I think if Hill can keep Torres on the end of her punches, she can consistently land more than Torres. However, I don’t have confidence that she can maintain this tactic for 15 hard minutes with the Tiny Tornado. I expect Torres to find her way into range by exploding forward and ending her combinations with kicks, by doing so she can negate some of Hill’s reach advantage even if Hill floats back, and keeps her on the backfoot.
Prediction: Tecia Torres wins by decision