Cat Zingano had her moments, but Ketlen Vieira used an at-times stifling top game to take a split decision.
It appeared Vieira (10-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) had dominated the fight, but she had to stress out a split call. She got a pair of 29-28s against Zingano (9-3 MMA, 2-3 UFC), who was fighting for the first time since July 2016. Zingano got a dissenting 29-28 from one judge – though exactly how might be something of a mystery.
The women’s bantamweight bout opened up the main card of today’s UFC 222 event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. It aired on pay-per-view following prelims on FS1 and UFC Fight Pass.
Zingano came forward early and landed, but Vieira landed a counter right and a knee to the body not long after. After a short clinch, Vieira landed an elbow on the break. Zingano landed a right hand with a lunge, and they swung hard. Two minutes in, Zingano landed a nice takedown, but Vieira didn’t let her land on top and was quickly back to her feet. Zingano kicked hard to the body, then a right hand afterward. But Vieira landed a counter left. When they clinched not long after, Vieira ate some big knees from Zingano, but continued to walk forward after the break. She landed a takedown with 1:15 left and got on top of Zingano to ride out the round.
Vieira landed a big throw early in the second, then quickly stepped over to full mount. She took her time and tried to set up an arm-triangle choke. But 90 seconds into the round, Zingano exploded out perfectly and nearly landed an upkick. But Vieira didn’t let her back to the feet and soon was back on top in Zingano’s guard. She passed to half-guard and gave Zingano no real room to operate. Zingano threw solid elbows from the bottom, but it was all Vieira with top position for nearly the whole round.
Zingano came forward with a sense of urgency in the final round. She landed a high kick, then some punches. But when Zingano threw a kick and had it checked, she appeared to hurt her foot, and she limped before Vieira landed another takedown. Vieira stood up after a minute and fended off upkicks from Zingano, who threw them despite the apparently injured left foot.
Vieira controlled things till there was two minutes left, when Zingano took advantage and got back to her feet and landed a punch. But her rally attempt was thwarted when Vieira pressed her to the fence. Referee Jason Herzog separated them with 50 seconds left, and Zingano landed nicely down the stretch – till Vieira tied her up to wind out the fight.
Vieira stayed perfect with a 10-0 start to her pro career, including her first four in the UFC. Zingano lost for the third straight time after a perfect 9-0 start to her career.
Up-to-the-minute UFC 222 results include:
- Ketlen Vieira def. Cat Zingano via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Mackenzie Dern def. Ashley Yoder via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Alexander Hernandez def. Beneil Dariush via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 0:42
- John Dodson def. Pedro Munhoz via split decision (28-29, 30-27, 29-28)
- C.B. Dollaway def. Hector Lombard via disqualification (late punches) – Round 1, 5:00
- Zak Ottow def. Mike Pyle via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 2:34
- Cody Stamann def. Bryan Caraway via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Jordan Johnson def. Adam Milstead via split decision (29-28, 27-30, 29-28)
For complete coverage of UFC 222, check out the UFC Events section of the site.
(MMAjunkie’s John Morgan and Ken Hathaway contributed to this report on site in Las Vegas.)