The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s upcoming visit
to the UK has gained an important women’s bantamweight clash.
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Ketlen
Vieira and Pannie
Kianzad will attempt to climb the 135-pound rankings when they
meet at UFC on ESPN 49 in July in London. The news was first
reported by
MaximumSports and was confirmed by the UFC on Tuesday.
Bantamweights on deck!
🇧🇷 @KetlenVieiraUFC
vs @PannieKianzad
🇸🇪 is official for
#UFCLondon🎟️ https://t.co/wg9VkLrok2
pic.twitter.com/EYlQx8iHcU— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope)
May 9, 2023
Vieira (13-3, 7-3 UFC) is looking to get back on track after
finding herself on the wrong side of a split decision in her UFC
Fight Night 217 affair with Raquel
Pennington. Prior to that, “Fenomeno” overcame former
divisional queens Miesha Tate
and Holly
Holm at UFC Fight Night 198 and UFC Fight Night 206,
respectively. The Nova Uniao representative is looking for her
first UFC title shot, and a victory over Kianzad would put her in a
favorable spot.
Kianzad (16-6, 5-3 UFC) is building momentum after her victory over
Lina
Lansberg at UFC on ESPN 34 in April. “Banzai” is 5-1 in her
last six assignments, with a sole loss to Pennington at UFC Fight
Night 192. Her resume includes victories over former title
contenders Bethe
Correia and Alexis
Davis, among others.
UFC on ESPN 49 will take place at the O2 Arena in London, England,
on July 22. The UFC has yet to announce the main event of the
evening, but has implied the card might feature the return of
surging British heavyweight Tom
Aspinall following his knee injury suffered against Curtis
Blaydes last year.