Who’s next for Ketlen Vieira after her controversial win over Holly Holm?
- Kieran Cobley
- 23 May 2022
Ketlen Vieira secured herself an upward movement in the UFC’s bantamweight rankings at UFC Vegas 55, with a split decision win over former champion Holly Holm at UFC Vegas 55.
Following the controversial win, Planet Sport looks at who could be next for the Brazilian fighter in a highly competitive division.
Holly Holm
This one is the no brainer option.
While Vieira did secure the split decision win at UFC Vegas 55 over Holm, fans, MMA journalists and pundits all slated the decision on social media and the state of judging in MMA.
Vieira was outstruck 188 to 122 by Holm and only managed to land one of her seven attempted takedowns on "The Preacher's Daughter".
With a performance like this, it is easy to see why the decision on Saturday night was so heavily slated and why Vieira really needs to rematch Holm to show that she can beat the future Hall of Famer.
In an ideal world, this would also work as not only a good rematch with a decent amount of marketability, but a fight that could act as a title eliminator should Juliana Pena defend her title against Amanda Nunes at UFC 277 later this summer.
Aspen Ladd or Sara McMann
So this is a bit cheeky to pick two fighters but with Ladd and McMann set to square off on August 13, it only seemed sensible to roll both into one pick.
Vieira's fight with Holm was very lacklustre and it is reasonable to believe that rather than be given the chance to climb another spot in the rankings, "Fenomeno" might be forced to first defend her current spot.
Ladd needs a win over McMann to turn her stalling career around.
The young American prospect has had a rough couple of years, with injury and weight cut issues forcing her out of fights in 2020, while she has lost her last two fights to Irene Aldana and Raquel Pennington.
If Ladd can turn her misfortune around, she can show why she is a force to be reckoned with.
This fight camp for #ufc273 was made possible with the support of @KendraLust and the #lustarmy Thank you for supporting the #mma community and my career! pic.twitter.com/dTkJjEdJr6
— Aspen Ladd (@TheAspenLadd) March 19, 2022
Meanwhile, McMann is 41 and knows a win over Ladd and then over Vieira puts her into title contention.
It can give her the possibility to set a record in the UFC for the oldest woman in the promotion to have held a belt.
I'd be happy to see either fight due to this being a new matchup in both fights and the fact it will push Vieira to her limits.
Irene Aldana
Aldana was the first woman to hand Vieira a loss, so it would be poetic justice for Vieira to get that win back and secure her spot in the top five of the women's 135lbs division.
The Mexican has won three of her last four fights, with finishes over Vieira and Yana Kunitskya, so she could theoretically get into title contention with a second win over Viera, especially if it came within the distance.
On the other side of the coin, putting Vieira up against Aldana will truly measure just how much better she has got as a fighter since 2019 - and rematches always have a good bit of marketability too.
Personally, this is the fight I want to see. Viera needs to be pushed to her limits to see how she has adapted, and there is no one better to do that than Aldana in my eyes.
