Ketlen Vieira vs Raquel Pennington booked for January 2023 UFC event
2023 is right around the corner, and The Ultimate Fighting Championships has already begun scheduling some intriguing match ups for these future events.
One intriguing matchup of which comes in the women’s bantamweight division between a pair of contenders in no. 2 ranked Ketlen Vieira (13-2) and no. 5 ranked Raquel Pennington (14-8).
This bout is to go down at UFC Fight Night 217 on January 14, 2023, live from the UFC Apex in Enterprise, Nevada.
Brazilian talent Ketlen Vieira came to the UFC in October of 2016 with a record of 6-0 as the champion of two different promotions. She went on to win her first four promotional bouts, most notably defeating former title challengers Sara McMann (arm-triangle choke) and Cat Zingano (SD), before losing for the first time.
No. 4 ranked Irene Aldana would be the first woman to defeat her, doing so via first round KO.
Since then, Vieira has gone 3-1, most recently defeating former UFC bantamweight champions Miesha Tate (UD) and Holly Holm (SD), both in five round main events.
Raquel Pennington on the other hand came over to the UFC in November of 2013, following a 2-1 stint on The Ultimate Fighter 18, with a record of 3-3. And, she too won a title prior to joining the organization.
Pennington would go 2-2 through her first four octagon bouts (both defeats via split decision), before going on a four-fight win streak, finishing up with a win over Miesha Tate (UD) herself, which improved her record to 9-5.
She was then slated to face Amanda Nunes for the UFC bantamweight championship, a fight she lost via TKO in round five. She’d then lose to former UFC featherweight champion Germaine de Randamie (UD), before defeating Irene Aldana (SD) in her next outing.
A second defeat to Holly Holm (UD) would soon follow, before Pennington would go on her current four-fight win streak, most recently defeating Macy Chiasson (guillotine choke) and Aspen Ladd (UD).
Pennington has really tightened up her boxing, and she’s been looking absolutely incredible as of late. Does she acquire the first five-fight win streak of her UFC career at UFC Fight Night 217?
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