Ketlen Vieira takes on Yana Kunitskaya in a scheduled bantamweight clash this weekend. At UFC Fight Night: Blaydes vs. Lewis, Brazil’s Vieira has a chance to further her quest to become a UFC titleholder. But first, she has to get through former Invicta FC Bantamweight Champion Kunitskaya. Despite Kunitskaya making a failed debut against former UFC Featherweight Champion, Cris Cyborg, the Russian-born fighter has proven her toughness time and time again even under the highest pressure.
All of the action goes down inside the UFC APEX, in Las Vegas. The event will be broadcasted on the ESPN+ platform. Since the card contains fifteen fights, one of which will be given extra focus is the bantamweight pairing between Ketlen Vieira and Kunitskaya. As with good reason seeing as these two athletes are within a few fights of reaching title aspirations.
Ketlen Vieira vs. Yana Kunitskaya – Breakdown
Wife of the aggressive striker Thiago Santos, Kunitskaya indeed possesses similar finishing abilities to her husband. Overall, the Russian-born athlete has amassed seven of her thirteen wins by strikes. Since more than half of her wins come by way of finish, she rightfully has a target on her back. An orthodox striker with solid fundamentals, Kunitskaya’s flow of punches and kicks are seamless yet damaging. In addition, she has a well-rounded ground game but is focused on remaining on her feet to strike.
My first capoeira class after long training day
@TMarretaMMA pic.twitter.com/PvcanmVs5o
— Yana Kunitskaya (@YanaKunitskaya1) December 22, 2020
On the other hand, Vieira is more of a submission artist. With nearly half of her professional wins coming on the ground, there is no doubt that’s where she’d like to see the fight play out. While Viera endured a tough setback against Irene Aldana, she demonstrated evolution after coming back for redemption. Following the knockout loss to Aldana, Vieira went back to the drawing board, made adjustments, challenged a game Sijara Eubanks, and beat her. Not only did the victory underline her evolution but so did coming back after a long layoff.
By The Numbers: Ketlen Vieira vs. Yana Kunitskaya
(Yana Kunitskaya’s Takedown Average, Takedown Accuracy, and Takedown Defense) (Numbers Provided by ESPN)
- TD Avg.: 2.04
- TD Acc.: 53%
- TD Def.: 33%
(Ketlen Vieira’s Takedown Average, Takedown Accuracy, and Takedown Defense)
- TD Avg.: 2.02
- TD Acc.: 52%
- TD Def.: 92%
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Since Kunitskaya’s takedown defense is lacking, Vieira’s takedown average combined with the accuracy of her takedowns may dominate the story of this fight, but a striker should never be counted out.
Don’t miss the action this Saturday at UFC Vegas 19 on ESPN+
