Bantamweight prospect Ketlen “Fenômeno” Vieira kept her perfect record intact with a hard-fought Split Decision victory tonight at UFC Fight Night 96: “Lineker vs Dodson” in Portland, Oregon. The unbeaten Brazilian edged out Kelly Faszholz in a competitive matchup on the preliminary card.

Vieira controlled the positional battles on the ground in rounds one and two after catching her opponent’s kicks, but Faszholz was active from her back and she rocked Vieira on the feet in round three. Faszholz’s rally was too little, too late, however, and Vieira walked away with her first UFC win.

Vieira (7-0-0) closed the distance and clinched with Faszholz (3-2-0) early on, but Faszholz punched her way free and scored with a nice right hand. Vieira backed her up with a right hook, but Faszholz caught a kick and countered with knees in a clinch. Vieira threw her to the mat and worked from top position, but Faszholz held on and punched from the bottom until Vieira stood up and worked to pass to half-guard. She landed two hard left hands late in the close round.

Vieira took Faszholz back down in the second round and she landed short strikes from the top in Faszholz’s guard, but Faszholz prevented her from passing to side control. The fighters were eventually stood up, but Vieira caught a kick from Faszholz and quickly took her back down. The round ended with a brief striking exchange on the feet.

Faszholz was very aggressive with her strikes in the final round and she tagged Vieira with one-twos and lunging hooks. Hard right hands landed for Faszholz, and she stunned Vieira with a combination and clinched with her against the cage. Vieira broke free and Faszholz walked her down with punches. She landed three jumping knees, but Vieira caught the third one and slammed her down to the mat. Vieira scrambled and tried for a rear-naked choke, but Faszholz spun and kept her trapped in guard.

One judge scored the close fight for Faszholz, but the remaining two both saw it in favour of Vieira, whose unblemished pro record remained intact. The 25-year-old has only gone to a decision twice, but tonight’s fight with Faszholz was easily her toughest test to date.

Winner: Ketlen Vieira by Split Decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29) after three rounds. She improves to 7-0-0.

(Photo Credit: UFC)