Overall, I think UFC Vegas 55 exceeded the expectations of most fans. While expectations were as low as they've been for a UFC event in 2022, I think this card was able to at least hold its own against the standard Fight Night card by and large. Unfortunately, the main event really didn't live up to even the middling expectations that it had. The fight was pretty slow, which wasn't that shocking, but then the judges came away with an interesting opinion on the decision. I can't say that I was especially locked in to every second of the fight trying my best not to blink, but I was watching the fight and it was certainly less than entertaining to watch. Not every fight is a barn burner though and I can appreciate that to a certain degree. I haven't rewatched the fight, but in real time, I disagreed with the decision and I didn't really even expect to hear a split let alone a Vieira win. Unfortunately, this story happens way too often in MMA and it is something that really needs to be fixed. I always say that open scoring and the contract discussions are a story for a different day, but since there's no card this weekend, either late this week or early next may be the time for the open scoring post. Of course, if the judges could be trusted even a little bit, I think it would be much less of an issue, but the judging is so inconsistent even in fights that seem pretty clear. In any case, this fight was fairly meaningful, so let's break down what happened and what we may see for each of these women next.
We start with the winner on this site and that means we'll get into Ketlen Vieira. When it comes to Vieira, I'm still not all that sold on her as a true title contender. She continues to show potential, but it just doesn't feel like it is all being put together just yet. Let's focus on what she did well though. Her striking continues to show some growth, which she's going to need in order to really compete for the title. Her ground game is probably the most refined part of her skill set right now, so her development on the feet is imperative for her ability to compete in all phases of the fight. She is showing growth from fight to fight, which is really all someone can ask for. We'll see how far she can go, but the growth is important no matter how little it may be. Her power was noticeable again and she was visibly effecting Holly Holm with each punch that she landed flush. Holm has historically had pretty good striking defense, so for Vieira to land that many shots and land them as hard and solid as she did is not an easy task. That was really my biggest takeaway on the positive side. The other main positive for her was the submission that she had locked in. She had a sort of rear naked choke grip on Holm that looked really tight and I think Holm was really thinking about tapping at one point. Vieira didn't have the hooks in or a body triangle though and that allowed Holm to turn into Vieira and escape the choke, but not by much. Now, I do have quite a bit of negative to say, which isn't my usual for someone who won a fight, but I think Vieira is in a different tier now, so she needs to be looked at differently. The main true negative is her cardio. She has to have that in a much better position in her next fight. This fight against Holm wasn't even a high paced one and she still slowed down dramatically as the fight progressed. There's no way she would be able to compete with Amanda Nunes or Julianna Pena with her cardio limiting her so much. She needs higher output on the feet, but she can't because she just doesn't have the gas tank to do so. She also needs to get away from some of her judo tendencies at times. DC was saying it on the broadcast, but when Holm would clinch her along the cage, Vieira's natural tendency was to lock down the overhooks, which is a very judo thing to do. However, in MMA, those techniques can be mitigated much more easily and she needs to dig for underhooks to get herself off of the cage and back to space. She wasn't able to adjust during the fight and that led to her being controlled along the cage for long stretches of time. Those types of mistakes will be taken advantage of to an even greater degree in title fights against the best fighters in the world. While those things are negatives, they are things that can be fixed. She can continue the work on her striking, do more cardio work, and break the bad habit of overhooking constantly with more time in the gym and hard work, which everyone who has ever reached the UFC puts in. While they are concerning, I am confident that she can correct them with enough time in the gym, which is positive. The biggest concern I have for Vieira is her lack of a true style. She feels like she has either good or solid skills in almost every facet, yet they don't come together in a way that makes for anything that seems to be especially dangerous. The only way I could explain is through a food analogy. It is as if a really good chef took a bunch of really good ingredients and cooked them perfectly as they were. Then they just laid them all next to each other on a plate. Now imagine that those components were a steak, a salad dressing, queso, and ice cream. While each element was made by a knowledgeable chef, with high quality ingredients, and were cooked the way they were supposed to, they just don't form a cohesive meal. That is what watching a Ketlen Vieira fight feels like. Each element of her game is somewhere between sufficient and pretty good, but they just don't come together in a way that makes a cohesive fighter with a style that they implement. I don't know if the cardio just limits her that much or if she just can't really get herself in the driver's seat. Her last two fights have been against pretty high level opponents and while she got the win in both, it has never really felt like she's been imposing her will on them at any point. Now, her skills are plenty good enough to beat most women, but again, we're talking about a different tier now. I don't think she needs to build a foundation of anything, but she really needs to advance and refine a lot of her skills in order to really make that next step.
As for her next opponent, I think she is probably the favorite to fight for the title next. Beating Holly Holm still carries a lot of weight and she was the number two ranked fighter in the division before the fight. If Julianna Pena wins her fight with Amanda Nunes in July, I don't really see how there's another option. If Nunes wins, then that sets up much better for a Nunes/Pena trilogy. Honestly, I think having another fight under her belt before fighting for the title is the best thing for Vieira. I just don't think she's ready for that level of competition right now. I think the best scenario for her would be to get a fight with Irene Aldana next to give her more time to iron out some of the things she needs to fix in her game. However, she's probably the clear option if Pena were to need another opponent if she were to get another win over Amanda Nunes.
I'm not really sure how I should feel about Holly Holm after this fight. On one hand, I think she should have gotten the win in this fight, but on the other, I don't think she really looked like the prime version of Holly Holm either. Holly did a lot of good things in this fight. She showed a real veteran presence in the fight, which is an important part of the growth of a fighter as they age out of their prime and their skills start to diminish. While they aren't as fast or powerful or don't have the gas tank they used to, they can still use their years of experience to find ways to win fights. Think of what Andre Arlovski is doing right now. He isn't anywhere near what he was in his prime, but he is still winning fights pretty consistently, albeit against a lower level of opponent. That is sort of what I saw out of Holm in this fight. Maybe she has lost a step and doesn't quite have the power, quickness, and cardio that she did in her prime, but she was able to do enough and should have gotten the decision. She came with a more grappling heavy approach, which I didn't really expect, but it worked well. She was able to control Vieira against the cage for long stretches and land a lot of strikes in the clinch. With that said, I think Holly started to show her age a bit in this one. Din Thomas mentioned it on the broadcast, but her striking defense just wasn't what it had been in the past. She looked to be a step slow in that department and was getting hit and hit hard. The visual of her having her head snapped back and then seeming to be effected by those strikes is ultimately what lost her the fight. She landed a lot of strikes in the clinch, but when they were striking at range, Holly didn't seem to fully be herself either. She wasn't able to land the way she had in the past and just didn't really seem to have the speed in both her hands and feet to get her offense off. Her footwork didn't seem to be that of the old Holly Holm and her combinations just weren't as crisp. Some of that could be contributed to the two year layoff and the recovery from multiple health issues, but let's be honest with ourselves. Holly Holm is on the wrong side of 40 now and it is mostly all downhill from there for professional athletes. I'm not ready to fully give up on her yet and would give her another high level fight if she wants it, but I have a feeling that the version of Holly Holm we see for the rest of her career may only be a diminished one. What makes this so hard is that I thought she won this fight and had the decision gone her way, she would be in that same position to potentially get yet another title shot in her career. It is a tough spot because on one hand, you can't take away what the result should have been. However, at the same time, the eye test told a different story and that isn't the same Holly Holm that won a UFC title.
I'm a bit torn as to what exactly we should see out of Holly Holm next in her career. We've heard her name come up in conversations for a potential boxing match against Katie Taylor, Amanda Serrano, and some of the other bigger names in women's boxing and before this fight I would have said I think that would be a solid way for her to finish out her career. After this fight, I really do not want to see any of those fights. I know MMA is different, but Holly Holm was just fighting tooth and nail with Ketlen Vieira at range. I said in my preview that Vieira is a grappler first who is still working on her striking and I still believe that to be true. A prime Holly Holm would have handled Ketlen Vieira on the feet with very little issue. Vieira's striking forced Holm to have to try and win the fight in the clinch. If Holm is at a level where she is almost fighting Ketlen Vieira on the feet evenly, I don't want to see her anywhere near Serrano or Taylor. Those would end very, very badly for Holly, which pains me to say. As for MMA, I still think she can find ways to win fights, especially if she can control the clinch like she did against Vieira. I know she had a hand injury, but I think a Raquel Pennington fight would make sense for Holm. Rocky will stand and strike with Holly as well, so that is a style that at least in theory would allow Holm to fight in the realm that she wants. While it isn't a fight I would want to see, I could see her getting the loser of the July Pena/Nunes fight. I'm not sure she's ready for that level of competition right now, but with her name value, I think the UFC would probably have some interest in a fight like that. Yana Kunitskaya could also make some degree of sense, but that kind of feels like the third wheel in the options I just mentioned. The other two sound like much bigger fights, which is certainly what Holm is looking for at this stage of her career. She knows she doesn't have a ton of time left, so she would be looking for the quickest way back to the title. I have tremendous respect for Holly and I can't say that she's done because I believe that she won that fight, but it does look like we have limited Holly Holm fights left, so let's appreciate her while she's still active. No matter how it may end for her, she's been great for the sport and is one of the legends of women's MMA.
What do you guys think? How did you score the fight? How do you grade each woman's performance? Leave any and all thoughts below. Thanks for reading and have a good one.
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