Preview: UFC Fight Night 241 ‘Barboza vs. Murphy’

Women’s Strawweights

#12 WSW | Angela Hill (16-13, 11-13 UFC) vs. #9 WSW | Luana Pinheiro (11-2, 3-1 UFC)

ODDS: Hill (-135), Pinheiro (+114)

Hill can have a solid fight with just about anyone in the UFC’s strawweight division, and “Overkill” finds herself on gatekeeper duty here. Hill got thrown into the deep end to start her mixed martial arts career and proved to be a quick study. She was out of her depth as by far the least experienced member on the all-strawweight season of “The Ultimate Fighter” in 2014, but after quickly washing out of the UFC, she went on a rampage in Invicta Fighting Championships throughout 2016 and has spent the ensuing eight and a half years as a UFC stalwart. A high-volume and low-powered kickboxer, Hill’s had to iron out some issues—mostly in the cardio department—over the course of her UFC campaign, but she’s improved through sheer experience. She’s rightfully earned her reputation as one of the most prolific fighters in the sport with her willingness to step in and take fights, even squeezing six fights into an 11-month stretch at one point. The window for Hill to make a run towards championship contention has probably closed at this point, in part thanks to her knack for losing controversial split decisions that easily could’ve gone her way. However, she’s developed enough physical strength and takedown defense that she can still turn back some impressive opposition, with a 2022 win over Lupita Godinez sticking out in particular. After a 2023 slate that saw her lose to a surprisingly focused Mackenzie Dern and then turn back prospect Denise Gomes, Hill kicks off her 2024 schedule against another top Brazilian talent in Pinheiro.

In contrast to Hill, Pinheiro hasn’t kept a particularly active schedule, which made her first few years under the UFC banner a bit hard to parse. She ran through an underwhelming level of opposition up to and including her 2020 win on the Contender Series, and her first two UFC fights saw her win via disqualification and then easily handle a physically overmatched Sam Hughes. It wasn’t until 2023 that Pinheiro got the chance to answer a lot of questions, and she has an interesting bag of skills. Her game is fairly pared down, centered around power punching and her high-amplitude judo throws, but she brings enough firepower to the table to make things work. However, her win over Michelle Waterson-Gomez and loss to Amanda Ribas brought the same issue to the forefront. Her explosive style tends to leave her exhausted by the third round, enough so that Ribas was able to score a knockout in a fight that Pinheiro seemingly had well in hand. The outline of this matchup seems fairly evident, with Pinheiro landing some big moments in a tough scrap up until the point that she tires and Hill takes the fight over. From there, it’s anyone’s guess as to who wins on the scorecards. Pinheiro does seem to have at least two rounds of cardio. Add in that Hill almost never gets the benefit of the doubt from the judges, and the Brazilian gets the nod. The pick is Pinheiro via decision.

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Barboza vs. Murphy
Williams vs. Harris
Gorimbo vs. Brahimaj
Yanez vs. Salvador
Hill vs. Pinheiro
The Prelims