Kayla Harrison continued her push towards bantamweight title contention with a unanimous decision victory over Ketlen Vieira tonight at UFC 307.
Round One:
Inside leg kick from Vieira as Harrison lands a punch. Harrison throwing some fakes in the center of the Octagon as Vieira circles. Leg kick for Vieira.
Another leg kick from Vieira and Harrison tries to land a punch. After another kick from Vieira, Harrison closes the distance and clinches up against the cage. She lands a knee to the body.
Another knee from Harrison as Vieira lands light punches to the body. Harrison tries to land a knee upstairs. More knees from Harrison and punches to the body from Vieira. Vieira doing a solid job of preventing any judo throws so far and forces Harrison to reset.
Nice body kick from Harrison. Now a calf kick for her. Harrison ducks under a punch and bursts forward to land a nice takedown.
Harrison in half-guard here in the final minute of the round and is able to mount. Vieira immediately gives up her back, but not before eating an elbow from Harrison.
Harrison in full mount with Vieira crushed uncomfortably up against the cage as the round comes to a close.
Round Two:
Inside leg kick from Harrison. She misses with a front kick. Inside low kick for Harrison knocks Vieira off her feet for a moment.
Inside leg kick for Vieira. Left hand for Harrison. Harrison throws a left while reaching for Vieira’s lead leg with her right, but doesn’t get it.
Harrison pumps out the left hand. Now a hook from her that’s a bit wild and gets countered by Harrison. Inside leg kick for Harrison. Right hand from Vieira.
Harrison back into the clinch against the cage. She’s trying to work for a takedown, but Vieira prevents it and she peels away from the cage for a moment, then drives back in again.
Vieira with a nice punch after getting some separation for a moment. Harrison straight into the clinch again though. Knees to the body from Harrison and elbows from Vieira.
Harrison has a big knot on the forehead above the right eye as the ref separates them. Kicks from Vieira as the round ends.
Round Three:
Inside leg kick from Harrison knocks Vieira off her feet again for a moment. Harrison into the clinch and tries to get the takedown, but it doesn’t pay off and they go back to striking.
Nice punch from Vieira and Harrison is bleeding from the nose. Another hard inside leg kick from Harrison disrupts Vieira’s balance.
Low kick for Vieira. Head kick attempt from Harrison is blocked. Harrison trying to clinch up but Vieira gets away. Harrison resets and drives again, clinching up against the cage.
This time Harrison is able to drag Vieira to the mat. Half the final round remaining as Harrison gets to work with some solid ground-and-pound.
Heavy elbow drops down from Harrison. Now a series of left hands. A few more connect. Harrison stands for a moment and blasts down a few hard strikes, then goes back down.
Harrison passes to half-guard with 60 seconds to go. Now into mount. A couple of punches land. She’s dropping down elbows too.
Vieira gives up her back or a moment, but then adjusts and gets her back to the cage. Now she’s on her back again. Harrison stands over her as the round comes to an end.
Decision:
So Harrison certainly did enough to win there despite not being able to get her judo throws working as much as she might have expected and also taking some damage on the feet. She wasn’t out her depth striking though and looked dominant when she did get the fight to the mat, leading her to a unanimous decision (30-27 x2, 29-28).
