UFC Fight Night 104's Angela Hill satisfied with 'backward journey' back to UFC

HOUSTON – Usually, a fighter builds momentum on the regional circuit. When there’s enough hype, a UFC contract arrives.

UFC women’s strawweight Angela Hill did things a little differently. She debuted on “The Ultimate Fighter 20” as a 1-0 MMA neophyte, seeded dead-last in the competition.

Not surprisingly, she was blown out of the water when she met No. 1 seed Carla Esparza, who went on to win the show.

Hill’s post-“TUF” journey wasn’t much easier. After winning a fight against castmate Emily Kagan on the show’s finale, she lost two straight and was released from the promotion.

Then she began to rebuild. Signing with the all-female Invicta FC, she won four straight, picking up the strawweight title and defending it. Soon, the UFC came calling again.

Although Hill was delayed from re-signing when USADA blocked a scheduled fight because she hadn’t waited four months to re-enter a drug testing pool, she’s back with permission from the UFC’s anti-doping partner. She’s ready to compete again in the octagon.

“It was kind of a backward journey,” Hill (6-2 MMA, 1-2 UFC), who fights Jessica Andrade (15-5 MMA, 6-3 UFC) on FS1 for UFC Fight Night 104 at Houston’s Toyota Center. “Usually people do Invicta or get more fans first, but I feel like I was able to earn a lot of respect from people who maybe before felt like I didn’t deserve to be in the UFC.”

In her second stint, Hill, the No. 9 fighter in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA women’s strawweight rankings, is getting no favors when it comes to matchups. Initially offered a fight with “TUF 20” vet Justine Kish, she instead took a bout with No. 11 Andrade, a former bantamweight who’s on a tear at 115 pounds. At this past weekend’s UFC on FOX 23, champ Joanna Jedrzejczyk mentioned her as a possible title contender if she is victorious.

A win would be a great way for Hill to prove she belongs with elite competition.

“This is a really winnable fight for me, and Andrade is ranked so high as a strawweight,” she said. “It’s going to be a really great start for me, and then just make a huge splash in 2017.”

Check out the interview above for more from Hill.

And for more on UFC Fight Night 104, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.