UFC Cuts Top 5 Ranked Ketlen Vieira Days After Winning At UFC Vegas 117

Ketlen Vieira (16-5 MMA) a recent UFC ranked number 5 women’s bantamweight contender is no longer with the promotion. The UFC released Vieira”, less than a week after she claimed a unanimous decision win over Jacqueline Cavalcanti at UFC Vegas 117 on May 16. She won and they still cut her. Vieira had been with the UFC since 2016. Almost a full decade on the roster. She has wins over former bantamweight champs Miesha Tate and Holly Holm, as well as Cat Zingano and Sara McMann. She arrived unbeaten and ran her record to 10-0 before suffering her first loss. At her peak, she was a legitimate title contender at 135 pounds.

Four Fighters Cut From One Card

Vieira was not the only fighter released after UFC Vegas 117. Ivan Erslan, Tuco Tokkos, and Daniel Barez were all let go in the same wave. Barez lost his flyweight bout to Luis Gurule. Which fair enough but Erslan and Tokkos literally fought each other on the prelims and both got cut anyway. 

Erslan won the fight by unanimous decision. His only UFC win and it didn't matter. The promotion told both of them to clean out their lockers on the same day. 

What makes that even crazier is that MMASucka's own prelim preview said before the fight that Erslan was in "must-win territory" and that losing could mean losing his roster spot. So the fact that he won and still lost the roster spot anyway, is crazy.

Coker and MVP Are Watching

The UFC is clearing house ahead of a new season of Dana White's Contender Series in August. New contracts coming in means old contracts have to go. That is the business and everybody who follows it understands how it works. 

But cutting a top 5 ranked fighter who just won crosses into different territory. Vieira is not some unknown preliminary fighter padding numbers. She beat two former champions in back to back fights. She has been a fixture of the women's bantamweight division for the better part of a decade and the promotion decided she was expendable less than a week after her hand was raised.

The timing honestly could not be worse for the UFC's public image on fighter treatment. Scott Coker just announced a new $60 million MMA league built around a fighter first philosophy. MVP proved there is a real audience for promotions that put athletes at the center. Now, the UFC is cutting top ranked fighters after they win. The alternatives are starting to look more attractive by the week.

Vieira Won't Be Sitting Around Long

Vieira finished her UFC career 10-5 inside the promotion. She is 34 years old and clearly still competitive at the highest level. A fighter with that resume and that ranking is not going to sit on the couch for long.

Whether she ends up in PFL, MVP, Coker's unnamed new league, or somewhere else entirely, the list of organizations willing to sign a former top 5 UFC bantamweight is probably longer now than it has been at any point in MMA history. The landscape has shifted. There are options that did not exist two years ago. And Vieira might be exactly the type of fighter these new promotions are looking for.

"We are building something authentic, something that belongs to the athletes and to the fans who live and breathe this sport," Coker said last week when announcing his new promotion.