In the Clinch: Vieira Aims to Topple Legend, UFC Vegas 55 – UFC women’s bantamweight Ketlen Vieira is out of the frying fan and into the fire this Saturday.
Fresh off a decision win over former champion Miesha Tate, Vieira has a tougher challenge Saturday against Holly Holm.
Holm (14-5-0), 40, enters the fight with a No. 2 ranking and a two-fight win streak. Although she is older and more injury prone at this stage of her career, her striking continues to power her to decision victories. Her length and keep-away game continue to be problems for the rest of the division. Only her ground game continues to be a weak point.
Vieira (12-2-0), 30, is 10 years Holm’s junior. Ranked No. 6, she knows she has an opportunity to leapfrog into the top three with a big win on Saturday.
Of course, it won’t be easy.
Holm isn’t a former champion for nothing. Vieira will have to be the aggressor and not let Holm pile up early rounds. Can her striking open some grappling opportunities? Can she rough up Holm against the fence in the clinch with some dirty boxing?
Vieira learned some hard lessons previously against Yana Kunitskaya and Mexican striker Irene Aldana. She learned some things against Tate as well. Her confidence should be high on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Holm has seen just about everything. She fended off Aldana and Raquel Pennington in her last fights. As long as she doesn’t pull an Aleksandar Rakic and compete with a pre-existing injury, her experience advantage will be considerable. She is older now but has shown she still has more than enough in the tank.
And so maybe Vieira will test Holm’s takedown defense if the striking isn’t going well. Holm could surprise everyone by going to the ground. But the fans will probably prefer these two to throw caution to the wind in a striking battle.
It’s up to Vieira to dictate this one from the start.
In the Clinch: Vieira Aims to Topple Legend, UFC Vegas 55 – More Resources
- 2022 Panini Select UFC Trading Cards
- 2021 Panini UFC Prizm Trading Cards Checklist
- 2020 Topps UFC Striking Signatures Trading Cards Checklist
- 2019 Topps UFC Chrome Trading Cards Checklist
Ketlen Vieira
Holly Holm
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