MMAOB staff writer Adam Martin takes a deeper look at the main event of UFC Vegas 43, a five-round women’s bantamweight bout between Miesha Tate and Ketlen Vieira. The event takes place on Saturday, November 20 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Miesha Tate (-110)
Tate (19-7) is the No. 8 ranked contender in the UFC women’s bantamweight division. The 35-year-old American recently came back following a five-year layoff to return and defeat Marion Reneau via third-round TKO. It was an impressive performance by Tate and showed that she’s committed to MMA again following her long layoff to start a family. Tate is a former UFC champion and she has fought and defeated some of the division’s best fighters including Holly Holm, Liz Carmouche, and Jessica Eye. She has excellent grappling and she used it to win the title against Holm. Of course, Tate has some issues with her game such as poor striking defense and she can also be taken down. But she has incredible cardio and heart and those intangibles keep her in fights that she is losing.
Ketlen Vieira (-110)
Vieira (11-2) is the No. 7 ranked contender in the UFC women’s bantamweight division. The 30-year-old Brazilian is one of the top contenders in the women’s 135lbs division after scoring wins over the likes of Sara McMann, Cat Zingano, and Sijara Eubanks during her UFC career. She is a strong grappler and is generally able to get her opponents down to the mat and control them. However, she hasn’t shown much finishing ability in the UFC, and she has also shown some cardio issues as her fights progress. Overall, Vieira is a strong contender whose grappling will generally be able to win her fights in the Octagon, but going up against another grappler could make it difficult.
Fight Breakdown: This should be an interesting fight between two grappling-based fighters. I like the matchup because it’s two fighters who primarily rely on their grappling to win their fights, so going up against each other now, it will be interesting to see how this bout plays out. I think the grappling overall is pretty close, especially early on, but the biggest advantage I see in this fight for either fighter is Tate and her cardio. We’ve seen Vieira get tired in the past and this fight is set for five rounds, which won’t help her. Tate, meanwhile, is someone who tends to get stronger in her fights the longer they go on. In this matchup, I see Vieira having some success early on by getting a takedown and putting Tate on her back. But she won’t be able to finish her, and as the rounds go on, I see Vieira tiring and Tate ultimately being the one who takes her down and ends up in top position. Since it’s set for five rounds, I actually think there is a real chance that Tate finishes this fight late. Either way, it should be an interesting match to play out, but I expect Tate to get her hand raised.
Prediction: Miesha Tate
