The main event features the second fight on Miesha Tate’s comeback tour, next stop Ketlen Vieira. Vieira is a large bantamweight, so large that she missed weight in her last fight. Vieira has two inches of height and three inches of reach over Tate. However, Tate has made a career out of overcoming obstacles.
Early in Tate’s career, she overcame any technical shortcomings by grinding out her opponents or simply by being tougher. Tate’s wrestling has always been a strength, but her striking looked much improved in her return fight against Marion Reneau. In 2016, before Tate’s win over Reneau, she exited the sport after losses to Raquel Pennington and Amanda Nunes. However, those losses were preceded by Tate stringing together five straight wins culminating in her winning the UFC Women’s Bantamweight Championship. Tate is no stranger to coming back from adversity. She persevered through two title fight losses against Ronda Rousey to eventually secure a UFC Championship. Tate’s tenacity isn’t just apparent in her career trajectory but also in her fighting.
Tate tends to push through her opponent’s offense and grind her way to takedowns. After all, she was “Takedown” before she was “Cupcake.” Vieira is no slouch when grappling, especially if we look at her fight against Sara McMann. Vieira is mainly a counter puncher on the feet, but she doesn’t have overwhelming power despite her size. Vieira has wins over some of the more prominent names that Tate has faced in the past, but Vieira faced those women years after they fought Tate. It’s hard to gauge where Miesha sits in the division because she’s only had one UFC fight in five years, but she has always been a gamer in every bout. Vieira has shown she can tire, and she lost her last bout, a fight where she missed weight. Tate has seemingly done the impossible, walking away from the sport at 30 years old, giving birth to two kids, and returning in better form. It remains to be seen how far Tate can take this comeback tour, but we’re here for it.
The odds aren’t quite even, but they’re pretty close. We’re going to put a wager on mom strength and hope this Tate train keeps on chugging.
The Bets: Tate (-102), Tate by Points (+195), Miesha Tate by Submission or on Points (+125)
