Preview: UFC Fight Night 224 Prelims

Women's Bantamweights

Ketlen Vieira (13-3) vs. Pannie Kianzad (16-6)
Odds: Vieira (-150), Kianzad (+130)

With the women's bantamweight title picture wide open, every win counts for these two. It's been an up and down few years for Vieira, though the Brazilian has remained on the fringes of the title picture for the better part of five years; her bullying style didn't particularly stand out at times, but a 2018 win over Cat Zingano marked four straight in the UFC and firmly put Vieira in contender status. But then things went south for the better part of two years, as injuries kept Vieira on the shelf and her return bout saw her suffer a stunning knockout loss to Irene Aldana. Vieira eventually rebounded well enough in terms of results but struggled for a good while to recapture her previous form; her approach had mostly been built around plodding but effective pressure, and she was clearly a bit less insistent in those proceedings for her next few fights following the loss to Aldana. Still, Vieira scored big main event wins over Miesha Tate and Holly Holm with her neutralizing style, and her January loss to Raquel Pennington wasn't entirely bad news; despite losing the nip-tuck decision, it was also evidence that Vieira had fully recaptured the aggression that marked a lot of her earlier fights. It's still a damaging loss in that Vieira would likely be fighting for the vacant title had she won, but things should still be clicking heading into this fight against Kianzad. Kianzad seemingly flamed out as a prospect circa 2015, but "Banzai" has done an impressive job of rebuilding herself in the years since; while she's still not at her most comfortable in the face of pressuring opponents, she's at least now a tough out, stringing together five wins in her last six fights. As a result, this doesn't figure to be a blowout—Vieira's wins rarely are— but the Brazilian looks to be the clear pick here as someone able to both drive Kianzad backwards and overpower her physically. The pick is Vieira via decision.

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Grant vs. Marcos
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Vieira vs. Kianzad
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