Somehow flying under the radar and stuck on the preliminary portion of Saturday’s UFC Vegas 110, the bantamweight clash between Ketlen Vieira and Norma Dumont was in reality one of the more relevant bouts on the Fight Night card.
Dumont was looking for a sixth straight victory, having picked up wins over former UFC champion Germaine de Randamie and ex-bantamweight title challenger Irene Aldana, among others.
Viera was last seen picking up a win over Macy Chiasson; she was ranked #3 in the 135 pound weight class, and Dumont #4.
The pair traded, mostly single strikes, on the feet through the opening two minutes, adding in the odd leg kick. As the midway mark of round one passed, it was still a bit of a chess match, both fighters extremely upright, neither apparently thinking about a takedown. That changed when Viera did just that with about 90 seconds left in the round. Dumont briefly went belly down, nearly giving up her back. When she rolled, she had to contend with an arm-triangle choke, but Viera was high up. Still, she clamped down on it; Dumont “answered the phone” in defense, arm up alongside her head. She attempted to clear the legs of Viera, with no luck, but was able to gut it out to the horn.
In a close round, that had almost certainly sealed it for Viera. In round two, there was more back-and-forth, single strike exchanges, with Dumont adding in kicks and finally backing Viera up with a combination. Still, the threat of the takedown now loomed. It would come until the final two minutes, after Dumont had pressured, but Vieira easily changed levels, landed a double-leg, and planted Norma on her back. In a round she might have been winning to that point, Dumont had her guard closed, nowhere near the fence. Vieira, conversely, had lots of time to work and a sizeable opportunity to steal the round.
While Vieira failed to find a finish or even do much significant damage at the end of the second, Dumont was left looking at the possibility of needing a finish in the third. At best, the fight might be even, barring any judging peculiarities. And in the third, Vieira slowed things down, tying the fight up along the fence. Dumont couldn’t seem to break free, and soon enough, two minutes had ticked away off the clock.
Dumont would break free, land a chopping leg kick, and go back to work in the standup. She briefly had Vieira backed up the fence, unloading some lefts and rights. None of the blows had rocked Vieira or set up a finish however. A right hook caught Vieira and looked to bloody her lip, but she was still far from out. Dumont, despite a late flurry, couldn’t find the finish, sending the fight to the scorecards.
There, a bit of a surprise – in a split decision, it was Dumont awarded the win. Leaving Vieira’s coaches, including Jose Aldo, in disbelief.
Official Result: Norma Dumont def. Ketlen Vieira by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
