Miesha Tate Returns, Faces Ketlen Vieira This Saturday

Former UFC champion Miesha Tate returns this Saturday to the Octagon.

Tate will headline UFC Fight Night vs. Ketlen Vieira. The event takes place live on ESPN+ from Las Vegas.

Along with Tate vs. Vieira, Michael Chiesa goes up against Sean Brady in a welterweight co-main event.

Vieira (11-2, fighting out of Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil) returns to the Octagon looking to make a statement and notch the biggest win of her MMA career. A black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and judo, she burst onto the UFC scene with impressive wins over Sara McMann, Cat Zingano and Ashlee Evans-Smith. Vieira now aims to recapture her early momentum and break back into the top five by defeating her first ex-UFC champion.

Former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Tate (19-7, fighting out of Las Vegas, Nev.) intends to remain undefeated in 2021 and continue her journey back to the title picture. A pioneer of women’s MMA who has been competing since 2007, Tate cemented herself as one of the best to ever do it with victories over Holly Holm, Sara McMann and Liz Carmouche. She now looks to prove a point by stopping Vieira in emphatic fashion.

Chiesa (18-5, fighting out of Spokane Valley, Wash.) has his sights set on defending his spot in the rankings and breaking into the upper echelon of the division. The winner of The Ultimate Fighter season 15, he discovered newfound success after returning to welterweight in 2018 with four straight wins over Carlos Condit, Diego Sanchez, Rafael Dos Anjos and Neil Magny. Chiesa now seeks to knock Brady from the ranks of the unbeaten and insert his name into the championship conversation.

Undefeated Brady (14-0, fighting out of Philadelphia, Pa.) aims to secure his most important victory yet and show that he is a future contender for the belt. A dominant grappler and Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, Brady has built himself into one of the top prospects in the UFC with victories over Court McGee, Ismail Naurdiev and Jake Matthews. He now plans on maintaining his perfect record by stopping Chiesa with a breakout performance.

Here’s a look at the rest of the card:

• Bantamweight veterans Rani Yahya (27-10-1, 1 NC, fighting out of Brasilia, Brazil) and Kyung Ho Kang (17-8, 1 NC, fighting out of Busan, South Korea) look to steal the show
• No. 6 ranked women’s flyweight contender Joanne Calderwood (15-6, fighting out of Glasgow, Scotland) takes on No. 9 Taila Santos (18-1, fighting out of Balneário Camboriú, SC, Brazil) in a high stakes bout
• In a bantamweight bout guaranteed to deliver action, Davey Grant (13-5, fighting out of County Durham, England) battles fast-rising Adrian Yanez (14-3, fighting out of La Porte, Texas)
• Pat Sabatini (15-3, fighting out of Bristol, Pa.) locks horns with Tucker Lutz (12-1, fighting out of Baltimore, Md.) in a featherweight bout
• Rafa Garcia (12-2, fighting out of Imperial, Calif.) aims to secure his first UFC victory when he takes on Dana White’s Contender Series signee Natan Levy (6-0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Nev.) at lightweight
• Loma Lookboonmee (6-2, fighting out of Buri Ram, Thailand) meets Loopy Godinez (Vancouver, B.C., Canada by way of Aguascalientes, Mexico) in a matchup of women’s strawweight prospects
• Terrance McKinney (11-3, fighting out of Spokane, Wash.) looks to replicate his impressive UFC debut when he competes against Fares Ziam (12-3, fighting out of Givors, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France) at lightweight
• Flyweights Cody Durden (11-3-1, fighting out of Loganville, Ga.) and Aoriqileng (18-7, fighting out of Xilingol League, Inner Mongolia, China) vie for their first UFC victories
• Shayilan Nuerdanbieke (19-7, fighting out of Jingan Qu, Shanghai Shi, China) aims to secure a signature finish when he meets Sean Soriano (14-7, fighting out of Boca Raton, Fla.) at featherweight
• Luana Pinheiro (9-1, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) clashes with Sam Hughes (5-3, fighting out of Everett, Wash.) at strawweight