Undefeated Ketlen Vieira Wants Title Shot After UFC 222 Win
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UFC bantamweight Ketlen Vieira extended her unbeaten streak to 10 consecutive fights when she defeated former title challenger Cat Zingano at UFC 222 on Saturday. The 26-year-old Brazilian utilized her superior grappling to ground Zingano and win via split decision.
After her impressive performance at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas against Zingano, Vieira revealed that she entered the fight with injured ribs. Ten days before the fight, Vieira suffered the injury during training, but never considered backing out of the fight.
During her post-fight interview, the 10-0 bantamweight stated that she wanted a title shot in her next outing.
“I want that belt. I came into this fight with no excuses with a fractured rib. I’ve been taking anti-inflammatories for the whole week. No excuses. I deserve to fight for that belt,” she said
Vieira made her promotional debut in October 2016. She’s reeled off four wins inside the octagon, including wins over Ashlee Evans-Smith, Sara McMann, and Zingano. Before landing in the UFC, Vieira held bantamweight titles in the Brazilian fight promotions Mr. Cage and Big Way Fight Night.
Heading into Vieira's fight with Zingano, reining women's bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes was expected to face No. 4 ranked Raquel Pennington at UFC 224 on May 12 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Vieira wants the winner. “The winner of Amanda Nunes and Raquel Pennington, that's who I want to fight,” she said backstage following UFC 222.
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After UFC women's featherweight champion Cris Cyborg won the UFC 224 main event later that night, plans may have shifted for UFC 224. Company president Dana White said that he was now considering Cyborg vs. Nunes in a champion vs. champion superfight in the next bout for both women, even though it would mean pulling Nunes out of her already agreed upon match-up with Pennington.
