Ketlen Vieira landed the bigger strikes tonight against Holly Holm and despite being controlled in the clinch for long periods of time that still led her to a split decision victory.
Round One:
The main event is underway in Las Vegas.
Leg kick from Vieira. Now one from Holm lands. Inside leg kick from Vieira. Side kick to the leg from Holm.
Vieira comes up just short with a flurry of punches. Vieira drives into a takedown attempt against the cage, but Holm reverses the position and presses her opponent up against the cage.
Vieira goes for a throw, but they end up back on the feet in the same position. Holm lands a knee to the inner thigh.
Vieira goes for a sweep, but Holm stays on her feet and lands some light strikes. knee again to the leg from Holm and Vieira tries thes weep again without success.
More knees to the legs from Holm. Holm looking for a single-leg now, but doesn’t commit to it. Punch from Holm and a couple of light knees to the midsection from Vieira.
Knees to the thigh from Holm. Series of knees from Vieira and then tries for that leg sweep again, but they land somewhat awkwardly and then go straight back up in the clinch again.
Round Two:
Outside leg kick for Holm and now a side kick to the leg too. Vieira with a head kick attempt that wasn’t far off.
A couple of punches land for Vieira. Now an inside leg kick. Outside leg kick from Holm. Another lands for her.
overhand misses from Holm and Vieira throws a right hand over the top as Holm side kicks for distance.
Holm pressing forward, but Vieira nicely works a judo throw to get Holm to the mat. Holm moving back towards the cage and stands, but Vieira presses her against the fence.
Holm able to break free though. Head kick attempt from her. Holm into a double-leg takedown attempt, but Vieira stays upright and tries to wrap up a guillotine choke as Holm brings her over to the cage.
Holm trying hard for the takedown, but there’s a brief scramble and Vieira sinks in the rear-naked choke and it looks very tight, but somehow Holm manages to gut it out and escape. Now she goes back to the clinch position that paid off for her in the first round.
Holm with an upward elbow. Light punches now as the round ends.
Round Three:
Outside leg kick from Holm. Inside leg kick from Vieira. Flurry from Holm without much accuracy. In close there’s a brief struggle as Holm looks like she’s going for a choke, but then settles for clinching up against the cage.
Holm controlling the action here, but without much in the way of action. Vieira able to break free now and get back to striking range.
Outside leg kick from Holm. Again on the inside in response from Vieira. Flurry from Holm mostly comes up short.
Head kick attempt from Holm is blocked. Push kick from her. Nice right hand from Vieira. Holm punches her way into the clinch and drives Vieira into the cage again.
Two minutes of the round remaining. Light punches from Holm. Knees to the body from Vieira. Knees to the leg from Holm.
Upward punches from Holm. Knee to the body from Vieira. A few punches and a knee from Holm and then Vieira lands a solid strike as they back away.
Vieira connects nicely. Now a hard right hand from Vieira that definitely got Holm’s attention and shes goes into the clinch for the final seconds of the round.
Round Four:
Side kick to the knee from Holm. Flurry from Holm that mostly doesn’t land. Right hand gets through for Vieira.
Another side kick from Holm. Flurry from Holm but gets caught by a counter punch from Vieira.
Inside leg kick from Vieira. Another light flurry from Holm. Front kick from Holm. Flurry from Vieira now. Hard leg kick for Vieira.
Holm fires off a few punches and again Vieira looks to counter with a punch. Body punch from Vieira. Now a left hook. Side kicks from Holm.
Short right hand from Holm. Again Holm gets her head down and flurries. Now a push kick that knocks Vieira off-balance to the mat. She gets back up though.
A few punches fired off by Vieira. left hand from Holm as she barrels in for the clinch position. Vieira able to shrug her off this time though and they go back to striking range.
Right hand for Vieira. Holm with a speculative head kick attempt. Kick to the thigh from Holm and Vieira lands on the counter with a punch.
Body kick for Holm. Side kick to the body lands for her. Another side kick to the leg this time. Holm tries to burst forward with punches but eats a counter.
Another flurry from Holm. Vieira misses with a head kick attempt. More volume punching from Holm without really finding a home for much of it as the round ends.
Round Five:
Inside leg kick from Vieira. Now a head kick attempt. Spinning elbow from Vieira connects. They clinch up but nothing comes of it.
Front kick to the body from Holm. Now a side kick. Holm clinching up again. Vieira punches to the body from a somewhat stalemate position as Holm tries to get her to the cage.
They break apart. leg kick from Holm but Vieira lands a counter punch. Holm gets into the clinch against the cage.
Vieira battling to get out though and does so. Front kick to the face from Holm and then lands it again. Now a head kick that comes off the guard.
Right hook from Vieira whistles past the target. Uppercut counter from Vieira. Side kick to the body from Holm and lands it again.
Single leg takedown attempt from Holm and walks Vieira over to the cage. She lets go of the leg and settles for this clinch position.
They break apart with a little over a minute to go. Front kick to the body from Holm and then a side kick to the leg.
Another clinch position now and Holm gets her over to the cage yet again. A couple of punches from Holm as she backs out of the position.
Vieira tries to drive into a takedown, but Holm defends it well and then turns into her and works for her own takedown attempt against the cage.
Nothing doing with that so she lands a few hammerfists to the thigh in the final seconds.
Decision:
Vieira landed the heavier blows during this fight, but Holm had long spells of control from the clinch position against the cage and that leads to a split decision ruling that ends up going in Vieira’s favor (49-48 x2, 48-49).
