A big women’s bantamweight fight is in store of May.
A women’s bantamweight matchup that could potentially double as a #1 contender fight is in the works for May.
Ariel Helwani reports that former UFC champion Holly Holm and Brazilian contender Ketlen Vieira are lined up for a five-round fight that would headline a Fight Night card on May 21st. No location or venue has been linked to this show as of yet.
Holm (14-5) is on a two-fight winning streak, having bested Raquel Pennington for a second time in as many matchups, followed by a terrific display against Irene Aldana in their UFC Fight Island 4 main event in October 2020. The 40-year-old did not compete in 2021 and was actually supposed to take on eventual champion Julianna Pena, but pulled out due to a kidney problem. Her featherweight booking against Norma Dumont later that year was also nixed after she suffered a knee injury.
Vieira (12-2) began her MMA career a perfect 10-0, including a split decision over former title challenger Cat Zingano. A brutal first-round KO loss to Irene Aldana ended her unbeaten run in 2019, but she returned to the win column with a victory over Sijara Eubanks. After a lackluster decision loss to Yana Kunitskaya, Vieira outclassed ex-champ Miesha Tate in a five-round decision at UFC Vegas 43 last November.
Current rankings have Holm at #2 and Vieira at #5, so if we assume that Pena and Amanda Nunes are going to rematch, the winner of Holm-Vieira should be next for the belt.