UFC Vegas 43 went down last night (Sat., Nov. 20, 21) inside UFC Apex in Las Vegas Nevada, which saw Ketlen Vieira outgun Miesha Tate to win a unanimous decision in the main event of the evening (see it again here). In the co-main event of the evening, Sean Brady defeated Michael Chiesa while Taila Santos choked out Joanne Wood in the closing seconds of the opening round.
Winner: Ketlen Vieira
Who She Should Fight Next: Aspen Ladd
It doesn’t always make sense to face someone coming off a loss when you are coming off a win, but it makes more sense to do that as opposed to facing someone ranked below you and the fighter you just defeated. That’s the situation Vieira (No. 7) currently finds herself in after defeating Tate (No. 8). Ladd is coming off a loss to Norma Dumont, but she is ranked No. 5 at the moment.
Winner: Sean Brady
Who He Should Fight Next: Thompson vs Muhammad winner
After initial refusal to call someone out, Brady changed course and called for a fight against the winner of the upcoming bout between Stephen Thompson and Belal Muhammad, set to go down at UFC 269 on Dec. 11. And you know what? It’s actually a pretty good pairing. Brady will undoubtedly climb up several spots following his big win over Chiesa so giving him a potential Top 5 opponents seems like the logical move.
Winner: Tailia Santos
Who She Should Fight Next: Andrea Lee
Santos picked up her fourth straight win by absolutely dominating Joanne Wood en route to scoring a first round submission win. Up next for the Brazilian standout I am feeling pivotal showdown against another surging Flyweight contender in Andrea Lee. “KGB” is coming off a huge win over Cynthia Calvillo, giving her two straight wins. With Valentina Shevchenko running out of fresh faces to face at 115 pounds, the winner of this potential slugfest could earn her first-ever shot at the title.
Winner: Rani Yahya
Who He Should Fight Next: Nate Maness
Yahya picked up a huge come-from-behind win over Yahya to earn his second straight victory inside the Octagon, his first such win streak in three years. The Bantamweight division is perhaps the most stacked and competitive weight class under the UFC banner at the moment, so the longtime veteran is going to need a few more wins before he cracks the Top 15. A fight and win against Maness, winner of four in a row could be what gets him closer. Maness is coming off a win over Tony Gravely and is undefeated at 3-0 inside the Octagon.
Winner: Adrian Yanez
Who She Should Fight Next: O’ Malley vs Paiva winner
Staying in the 135-pound weight class, Yanez is on the come up after he picked up his fourth straight win under the UFC banner, eighth in a row overall. Yanez is quickly becoming one of the most exciting fighters on the UFC roster, winning his fourth straight $50,000 post-fight bonus for the promotion. Sean O’ Malley called for a fight against Yanez — who didn’t have flattering things to say about “Suga” post-fight — despite the fact he is already lined up to face Raulian Paiva at UFC 269. I am all for Yanez facing the winner of that bout.
For complete UFC Vegas 43 results and coverage click here.