The UFC heads back to the fight capital of the world Las Vegas, Nevada for an exciting fight night event at the UFC Apex.

(Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

In the co-main event, we have a showdown in the strawweight division between a mainstay in the division Angela Hill, and surging contender Tabatha Ricci. Both fighters will be looking to make a statement with a win in hopes of getting into the title picture.

These two female fighters are looking to come out firing on all cylinders to put on an exciting fight for the fans, so let's take a look at the matchup and our Hill-Ricci prediction and pick.

UFC Vegas 96: Angela Hill Betting Predictions August 24th

Angela Hill (17-13) has been in the UFC for quite some time now and really has rejuvenated her career in her second stint with the promotion. She is now coming off back-to-back dominant performances as she looks to extend her winning streak to three in a row when she takes on Tabatha Ricci this weekend at the UFC Apex.

1. Hill has now won three out of her last four fights, most recently getting a second-round submission victory over Luana Pinheiro in her last fight.
2. That marked her 12th victory in the UFC bringing her UFC record to 12-13 with three of those wins coming by finish.

Hill does a great job at making every fight against her opposition extremely difficult to get a read on her striking. Her stance switches, volume, and movement gives her opponent fits on the feet at range which will serve her well against Ricci in this matchup.

• Ricci will attempt to close the distance to land her heavy strikes to get into the clinch and take the fight to the canvas, so it will be up to Hill to keep her at the end of her strikes and punish her as she gets within range.

While Hill has drastically improved her takedown defense and her grappling as we've seen in her most recent victory over Pinheiro, it will still be in her best interest to not engage in the grappling and outstrike Ricci at range. As long as Hill doesn't get put on her back she has a chance to keep the good times rolling out striking Ricci to a decision victory.

UFC Vegas 96: Tabatha Ricci Betting Predictions August 24th

Tabatha Ricci (10-2)?suffered her first loss in her UFC strawweight career when she dropped a split decision to Loopy Godinez. However, she was able to get back into the win column when she got the split-decision victory over a mainstay in the division Tecia Pennington.

1. Tabatha Ricci is now 4-1 in her UFC strawweight career and a win over someone as experienced as Angela Hill can catapult her in the strawweight division.
2. Of Ricci's 10 professional wins, 4 of them have come inside the distance.

Ricci has grown up a lot during her time in the UFC. Being primarily a grappler as a judoka and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt she was lacking striking early in her career but over time she has honed her craft and has gotten better fight by fight.

• She showed off her striking skills against Tecia Pennington the last time out where she landed some heavy shots which ultimately persuaded the judges in the end giving her the split decision victory.

In this matchup against Hill, it's going to be relatively the same as Hill will need to keep this fight at range while Ricci will need to crash into the pocket to land her heavy strikes to get into the clinch to take the fight to the canvas.

As long as Ricci can avoid being on the end of Hill's strikes and cut off the cage she can track Hill down to land her strikes and takedowns to get the nod on the judge's scorecards and extend her winning streak to two in a row.

UFC Vegas 96: ANGELA HILL vs TABATHA RICCI FANDUEL ODDS FOR AUGUST 24

MONEY LINE

• ANGELA HILL: +100
• TABATHA RICCI: -122

PROPS

• ANGELA HILL BY POINTS: +135
• ANGELA HILL BY SUBMISSION: +2000
• ANGELA HILL BY KNOCKOUT/TKO: +1300
• TABATHA RICCI BY POINTS: +140
• TABATHA RICCI BY KNOCKOUT/TKO: +1500
• TABATHA RICCI BY SUBMISSION: +750

OVER/UNDER (ROUNDS TOTAL)

• OVER 2.5 ROUNDS (-600)
• UNDER 2.5 ROUNDS (+360)

BEST UFC VEGAS 96 ODDS FOR ANGELA HILL vs LUANA SANTOS

• Angela Hill comes in as the underdog yet again in this matchup. DraftKings Sportsbook has the best odds for Hill at (+110)
• Tabatha Ricci despite not being as experienced comes in as the betting favorite in this fight. BetRivers Sportsbook comes in with the best odds at (-117)
• Bet365 has the best odds when it comes to the over/under on the total rounds, which is set at 2.5 Rounds (-500) for the over, and (+330) for the under

FINAL HILL-RICCI PICK & PREDICTION

This is a fantastic matchup in the co-main event for this fight night event at the UFC Apex.

Ultimately, Angela Hill is going to find success early in this fight at range but it's going to be similar to the Torres-Ricci fight where she will press forward to land her strikes and then land her takedowns in the clinch to where she does just enough to get the nod on the scorecards and keep it moving up the rankings.

FINAL HILL-RICCI PICK & PREDICTION: TABATHA RICCI (-122)