With all that said, our burning question today is: Will Dern be able to take down Hill? On this edition of Beforemath, we will explore just that.Hill has been a mainstay for the UFC since her return to the promotion in 2017. There have been many ups and downs but at the end of the day, Hill has always been there. If we are being honest, not much about Hill is remarkable in a literal sense. She’s not going out to be exciting and she doesn’t produce knockouts.
One thing I’ve noticed about Hill is how she keeps her feet under her and doesn’t get out of position by overextending on her punching, which is conducive to not getting taken down. Dern struggles to get fights to the ground, and if Hill can stay away from clinches, it will give her that much less to work with. The only times Hill has been finished were by submission and staying out of that danger is priority No. 1.
Dern has a brawling style on the feet and Hill needs to be prepared to fight off the back foot for a good portion of this fight. Dern will come forward and she will look for big, looping punches to get her into a clinch to find a way for the takedown. For Hill, not backing up in a straight line will be key. Against, we saw Yan have success by not staying on the center line against Dern.
Then of course, there is the usual stuff we talk about with modern MMA meta. Hill will want to hit the body to gas Dern, kick the leg to slow her down and make the takedowns much harder. All the jazz that frequent Beforemath readers already know all about. Hill is 38 years old. This is a young woman’s sport. Against Dern, she faces real challenges that might be too much to overcome. But for Hill, not even letting those challenges come up is something that’s within her wheelhouse. A win gets her back into the Top 10. And while she is long in the tooth, Hill can still veteran her way into contention once and for all.Here’s a fun fact someone told me: Only two fighters have ever attempted to submit Hill. They are also the only two to finish her.