Preview: UFC on ESPN 41 Prelims

The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s return to San Diego this Saturday lost some depth in the weeks leading up to the card, but fortunately, some reinforcements arrived to salvage what could be an enjoyable set of prelims. That includes the featured slot, where a well-matched women’s strawweight battle—it will be contested a 120-pound catchweight—between Angela Hill and Lupita Godinez actually moved up two months to become of the standout matchups on this bill. Plus, two potentially violent bouts, Ariane Lipski-Priscila Cachoeira and Josh Quinlan-Jason Witt, were late scratches a week ago and help bolster the depth here. Otherwise, it seems like a sorting day near the bottom of divisions with fighters flawed enough to provide some entertaining finishes, so there should be something worth watching.

Now to the preview for the UFC on ESPN 41 “Vera vs. Cruz” prelims:

Women’s Strawweights

Lupita Godinez (8-2, 3-2 UFC) vs. #13 WSW | Angela Hill (13-12, 8-12 UFC)

ODDS: Godinez (-340), Hill (+280)

Initially scheduled for October, it is appropriate that this is the rare fight to get pushed up a few months, given that both women have made their name by accepting short-notice fights. That is particularly true of Hill, who has made some impressive progress to get her status as a stalwart of the strawweight division. Hill had all of one pro fight before being cast on “The Ultimate Fighter” in 2014, after which she was essentially thrown to the wolves. Two losses to Tecia Torres and Rose Namajunas later, “Overkill” found herself outside the UFC. However, that set up a breakout 2016 campaign—Hill won four fights in the calendar year, along with Invicta Fighting Championships strawweight title—and she was quickly back in the promotion and set to launch a solid campaign. Hill has never quite gotten over the hump into title contention, in part due to an unlucky penchant for losing controversial split decisions, but she has turned herself into a consistent 15-minute fighter and gained some notice thanks to her willingness to step in whenever possible. Hill took four fights in 2019 and 2020, then three more in 2021. Quietly, Hill has been in the middle of a rough patch, losing five or her last six bouts, though naturally, that has included controversial decision losses to Claudia Gadelha, Michelle Waterson-Gomez and Amanda Lemos that easily could have her riding some more momentum. A consistent issue has been that, for as well-rounded as Hill has become over the years, she is not a particularly dominant physical force and struggles to leave a huge impact on her fights—something that could be a worry against Godinez.

Godinez is an interesting prospect, and it will be interesting to see if her most recent win was truly a breakout performance or just another tease of what could be to come. Born in Mexico and training out of Canada, “Loopy” was inexperienced as a pro upon her UFC debut in 2021, but she had a well put-together game on film, using a solidly powerful striking game as an avenue to her wrestling, where she has typically been able to separate herself as a physical force. That made it a bit of a disappointment when she dropped that debut to Jessica Penne, who seemed like someone Godinez could overwhelm on paper. However, the veteran did enough with her grappling to halt Godinez’s progress whenever she appeared to get the ball rolling towards some effective offense. After running through Silvana Gomez Juarez in October, Godinez then decided to make the quickest turnaround in UFC history, moving up in weight to take on Luana Carolina just a week later—an impressive move that unfortunately resulted in another frustrating loss. Despite Godinez being the more skilled fighter, Carolina’s sheer size made it difficult for her to impose her wrestling once again. Even so, Godinez quickly washed away the memory of that performance with a win over Konklak Suphisara just a month later, then absolutely dominated Ariane Carnelossi in May to make a huge statement. When everything clicks for Godinez, she is an absolute terror, but it does seem like for her to be effective, it does require everything to fall into place, particularly her ability to overpower and outwrestle her opponents. Without it, while Godinez is still a powerful striker, there is not much of an endgame as her standup is meant to set up her takedowns. Things could go either way against Hill, who can shut down some solid wrestlers at times—Waterson-Gomez only hit one of 18 takedown attempts, while Gadelha and Torres also did not make much headway—but the former Invicta champion is coming off of a loss to Virna Jandiroba that saw the Brazilian find a ton of success taking things to the mat. Godinez gets the narrow nod, but she might be working with some thin margins in terms of having an impressive performance. The pick is Godinez via decision.

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Buday vs. Brzeski
Benitez vs. Ontiveros
Osbourne vs. Nam
Zalal vs. Blackshear
Lipski vs. Cachoeira
Quinlan vs. Witt