The Ultimate Fighting Championship remained at UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada today for UFC Fight Night 198: “Vieira vs Tate.” The event was headlined by a women’s bantamweight bout between contender Ketlen “Fenômeno” Vieira and former UFC champion Miesha “Cupcake” Tate.

In the welterweight co-feature, “Maverick” Michael Chiesa met unbeaten prospect Sean Brady. Elsewhere on the main card, Joanne “JoJo” Wood faced off against once-beaten Brazilian standout Taila Santos in a women’s flyweight matchup. MMARising.com has live play-by-play for the card.

Ketlen “Fenômeno” Vieira vs Miesha “Cupcake” Tate

Round 1:
Vieira struck first with a right-left combo and she landed more single right hands as Tate kept her distance. Vieira jabbed and she landed another right-left combination. Tate finally scored with a lunging right hook, but she ate four punches in return for her efforts. With 90 seconds to go, Tate punched her way into a clinch, but Vieira quickly broke free and she backed Tate up with hooks and an uppercut. Tate clinched once more and Vieira backed her up with an uppercut and a left hook. Vieira went for a late takedown, but Tate sprawled and defended until the bell. Close round due to Tate’s late rally. Still 10-9 Vieira.

Round 2:
Round two began with Vieira landing a combination and she pushed Tate away after catching a head kick attempt. A big right hand landed for Tate and Vieira spun her around with a counter leg kick. Vieira landed a combination, but Tate responded with a front kick to her face and she pressed forward with punches. Vieira stunned her with a left hook and Tate eyed a takedown. Vieira shrugged her off and landed jabs as Tate’s face reddened. Vieira jabbed and she answered a right hand from Tate with a more powerful one of her own. Another close round. 10-9 Vieira.

Round 3:
Tate landed a leg kick and Vieira responded with jabs and a right hand. Time was called when she was poked in the eye, but Vieira was able to continue after a moment and she used her jab to keep Tate at bay. She followed up on a right hand with a combination, then scored with a right hook as Tate backed up. Tate tried to clinch and Vieira landed an uppercut-hook combo. She followed with another right hand and Tate finally clinched, but she could not take Vieira down. Tate clinched once more and finished the round by landing knees to Vieira’s body. 10-9 Vieira.

Round 4:
Vieira landed some nice jabs to begin the fourth round and Tate connected with a hard right hook. She got Vieira down and took her back as Vieira returned to her feet. Tate kept Vieira pinned against the cage and landed short punches and knees until Vieira broke free. Power punches were exchanged and Vieira landed knees to Tate’s body after Tate closed the distance. Vieira jabbed and fought off another clinch from Tate with an overhand right, but Tate scored with knees to Vieira’s midsection during the final seconds. 10-9 Tate.

Round 5:
Tate tried to close the distance in the final round and Vieira landed jab after jab, followed by an uppercut-hook combo. Tate attempted another clinch and ate a knee and a right hand. She began to bleed from her nose and Vieira punished her with a knee to the body and a hard right hook. Tate finally landed a nice right hand of her own, but it was immediately countered by a right cross and more jabs from Vieira. Tate’s face was covered with blood as the fight entered its final minute. Vieira circled and Tate landed a body kick. Vieira continued to move and she landed one uppercut before the final bell. 10-9 Vieira.

Winner: Ketlen Vieira by Unanimous Decision (49-46, 48-47, 48-47) after five rounds. She improves to 12-2-0.

Sean Brady vs “Maverick” Michael Chiesa

Round 1:
Time was called early in the fight when Brady was poked in the eye. The fight continued after a short delay and Chiesa landed a one-two. Brady pressed forward and punched Chiesa’s hand as Chiesa threw a punch of his own, which opened Chiesa’s hand and caused him to poke Brady in his other eye. A cut was also opened on Brady’s left cheek. After a longer timeout, action resumed and Chiesa was warned. Brady took Chiesa down twice and he landed left hands to Chiesa’s face from back control. Chiesa worked back to his feet and escaped from the clinch. He landed a left cross and Brady answered with a leg kick. 10-9 Brady.

Round 2:
Chiesa jabbed to begin the second round and he landed a lead right hook to Brady’s temple. Both men landed in an exchange and Chiesa scored with a jab-cross combo. He followed with another one and Brady began to bleed more heavily from his nose. He clinched and took Chiesa down into back control, then sunk in both hooks and tried to set up a rear-naked choke. He kept Chiesa trapped in a body triangle and attempted one more rear-naked choke before the bell. 10-9 Brady.

Round 3:
Chiesa landed a flying knee to Brady’s chest early in round three and he hurt Brady with uppercut-hook combos after escaping from a clinch. Brady tied him up and took his back, then dragged Chiesa down to the ground. Chiesa tried to kick off of the cage to escape, but Brady stayed on his back. Brady hunted for rear-naked chokes until the final 45 seconds when Chiesa escaped to his feet. Chiesa landed a knee and he whipped Brady down to the ground. Brady covered up and made it to the bell as Chiesa dropped punches to the side of his head. 10-9 Chiesa.

Winner: Sean Brady by Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) after three rounds. He improves to 15-0-0.

Taila Santos vs Joanne “JoJo” Wood

Round 1:
Santos opened with a one-two and Wood threw front kicks from a distance. Wood landed left-right combos until Santos scored with a hard right hook and clinched. Wood pushed her away and landed leg kicks and a right hook. Santos landed an overhand right and a leg kick, then dropped Wood with a big right hook to the temple. Wood recovered quickly and got back to her feet, but Santos floored her again with another right hand and then took Wood’s back. Wood fought off two rear-naked chokes, but Santos adjusted her grip and secured a third one that forced Wood to submit.

Winner: Taila Santos by Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) at 4:49 of round one. She improves to 19-1-0.

Rani Yahya vs Kyung Ho “Mr. Perfect” Kang

Round 1:
Kang landed two early right hands and he countered Rahya’s jabs with a flying knee. Yahya caught it and took Kang down against the cage. Kang returned to his feet and Yahya dragged him back down from back control. He attempted an inverted heel hook, but Kang quickly pulled his leg out and stood up. On the feet, Kang landed stiff jabs and an overhand right. He landed two more jab-cross combos and the second one dropped Yahya. Kang allowed him to stand and he landed a lead left hook and an uppercut. Yahya shot in for a takedown and wound up on the bottom. 10-9 Kang.

Round 2:
Yahya countered a leg kick from Kang by taking him down early in the second round. He took Kang’s back and secured a neck crank, but Kang managed to break his grip. Yahya stayed on his back and maintained a body triangle while punching the side of Kang’s head. This continued all the way until the bell. 10-9 Yahya.

Round 3:
Kang rocked Yahya with punches in the final round and Yahya dropped to his knees, but he recovered enough to pull Kang down to the ground as well and threatened with a guillotine choke from the bottom. Yahya used the choke to set up a sweep and he struck from the top in Kang’s butterfly guard. Yahya passed to half-guard and threw hammerfists to Kang’s face. Kang regained full guard again and both men punched non-stop on the ground during the final 45 seconds. 10-9 Yahya due to control.

Winner: Rani Yahya by Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) after three rounds. He improves to 28-10-1, 1 NC.

Adrian Yanez vs “Dangerous” Davey Grant

Round 1:
Grant started quickly with a variety of kicks and he mostly targeted Yanez’s lead leg. Yanez landed a right hand and Grant answered with a tornado spinning backfist. Yanez connected with two more right hands and he began to have more success with his boxing as Grant focused mostly on his kicks. Both fighters landed kicks to the body and Grant dropped Yanez to a knee with a hard inside-leg kick. Yanez stood and Grant missed with a spinning wheel kick. Yanez backed him up with a left hook and followed with a right. Grant recovered quickly and the fighters exchanged right hooks. Grant began to bleed from a cut on the bridge of his nose, but he continued to throw kicks in the final seconds. Close opening round. 10-9 Yanez by a slim margin.

Round 2:
The second round opened with more kicks from Grant, but Yanez scored with a right hook over the top. Grant landed a right hand of his own and Yanez answered with a leg kick. He forced Grant to circle away by landing two right hooks and time was called when Yanez was poked in the eye. He was able to continue after a minute and Grant shot in for a takedown. Yanez defended well and he landed another hard leg kick after separating from the clinch. Grant missed with another tornado spinning backfist and Yanez cracked him with a right hand. Blood continued to pour from the cut on the bridge of Grant’s nose, but he landed a leg kick and a lead right hook, then followed with two huge looping rights to Yanez’s jaw. Yanez barely flinched, but Grant landed another right hand late in the round. 10-9 Grant due to the strong finish.

Round 3:
After an exchange of leg kicks in the final round, Grant jumped in with a flying switch knee and followed with two wild hooks. Yanez jabbed and landed a one-two. Grant finished a combination with a head kick that partially landed. Yanez scored with a three-punch combo and he mixed up his strikes with jabs and leg kicks. A combination landed for Yanez and Grant just missed with a jumping knee. Yanez continued to jab and he stayed outside of Grant’s punching range. This continued until the final seconds when Grant charged forward and landed a right hook. Very close fight. 10-9 Yanez.

Winner: Adrian Yanez by Split Decision (29-28, 29-28, 27-30) after three rounds. He improves to 15-3-0.

(Undercard results and play-by-play on Page Two.)