UFC Vegas 43: Ketlen Vieira vs. Miesha Tate preview and prediction

UFC Vegas 43: Ketlen Vieira vs. Miesha Tate preview and prediction.

UFC Vegas 43 goes down Saturday from the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, NV. The event is headlined by the former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Miesha Tate, as she takes on rising contender Ketlen Vieira.

In July at UFC Vegas 31, Tate picked up her first UFC win in over five years in a successful comeback performance against Marion Reneau. Tate picked up the third-round stoppage victory over Reneau, marking just the second inside the distance win in a UFC octagon.

Tate took an extended hiatus from the sport of MMA after losing back-to-back bouts to current women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes, as well as Raquel Pennington back in 2016.

On Saturday, Tate will look to pick up her second win of 2021, as she faces a tough challenge in her opponent Vieira, who is currently ranked seventh among the UFC women’s bantamweight division.

Ketlen Vieira vs. Miesha Tate preview

Vieira is 5-2 since making her UFC debut back in 2016, with four of her five wins coming by way of decision.

Vieira is coming off of a disappointing decision loss to Yana Kunitskaya back at UFC Vegas 19 earlier this year. Vieira missed weight by three pounds in that appearance and will look to avoid taking back-to-back losses for the first time in her professional MMA career.

As for Tate, the former Strikeforce stand-out is 6-4 since making her UFC back in 2013, with four of her six wins coming by way of decision.

Sportsbooks such as WynnBet opened with Tate as the significant underdog in this match. However, money has continued to pour in on the former champion, who should close as the slight betting underdog for the first time since defeating Holly Holm back at UFC 196.

While Vieira has not looked her best as of late, it’s expected that she should bounce back and have regrouped since that poor performance back in February. With her ranking and potentially even more on the line, it would be fair to call this bout one of the biggest in the Brazillian’s UFC career.

If Vieira can manage to withstand the early storm that Tate will bring in the opening stages of the fight, her chances of success increase significantly as the fight goes on. While Tate proved that her fighting career was far from over in her UFC return back in July; it’s a far different scenario on Saturday.

Tate is going from fighting a 43-year-old on the brink of retirement, to fighting a hungry 30-year-old Brazillian sniper in Vieira. Vieira has her back against the wall, and will likely see this fight as an opportunity to rebound with a win against a notable name. Though it should be a very close fight, Vieira should pull away in the later stages of the fight and pick up the decision victory.

Prediction: Vieira by decision. 

UFC Vegas 43 takes place on Saturday, Nov. 20, live from the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, NV. Follow along with FanSided MMA, who is on-site, for all your news and highlights.