{"id":506006,"date":"2026-02-26T19:47:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T19:47:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/506006\/"},"modified":"2026-02-26T19:47:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T19:47:09","slug":"ufc-reportedly-expands-may-schedule-with-pivotal-fight-for-ufc-title-picture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/506006\/","title":{"rendered":"UFC Reportedly Expands May Schedule With Pivotal Fight For UFC Title Picture"},"content":{"rendered":"

A matchup with significant title implications has reportedly been set for a UFC event that will take place in Las Vegas on May 16. <\/p>\n

Starting with last weekend\u2019s UFC Houston card<\/a> that saw former UFC Middleweight Champion Sean Strickland stop Anthony Hernandez<\/a> in the night\u2019s main event, the world\u2019s leading MMA promotion is set for a lengthy stretch of consecutive events <\/a>that will span at least the next 10 weeks. <\/p>\n

There\u2019s currently no card officially scheduled for the first Saturday in May, but AG Fight<\/a> reports that the promotion will return home to Las Vegas on May 16 for an event that will feature top women\u2019s bantamweight contenders Ketlen Vieira and Jacqueline Cavalcanti. <\/p>\n

Ketlen Vieira Set To Defend Her UFC Ranking On May 16<\/p>\n

Currently sitting at #4 in the official UFC women\u2019s bantamweight rankings, Vieira made her Octagon debut in late 2016 and is now closing in on 10 years of fighting under the UFC banner. <\/p>\n

The Brazilian began her UFC career with four-straight victories before she was knocked out by future title challenger Irene Aldana at UFC 245. After splitting results against Sijara Eubanks and Yana Santos, Vieira scored back-to-back wins over former UFC titleholders Miesha Tate and Holly Holm before dropping a split decision to future women\u2019s bantamweight queen Raquel Pennington.<\/p>\n

\"Ketlen<\/p>\n

Ketlen Vieira (red gloves) fights Kayla Harrison (blue gloves) fight during UFC 307 at Delta Center. | Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

\u201cFen\u00f4meno\u201d most recently dropped a split decision to Norma Dumont last November and is now 2-2 across her last four outings, which includes a unanimous decision loss<\/a> to reigning UFC Women\u2019s Bantamweight Champion Kayla Harrison at UFC 307. <\/p>\n

Jacqueline Cavalcanti Is Undefeated Since Joining The UFC<\/p>\n

Vieira will look to rejoin the women\u2019s bantamweight title picture and also defend her Top 5 spot in the division when she meets Cavalcanti, who currently sits six spots below her at #10 following a strong start to her UFC career.<\/p>\n

A former women\u2019s bantamweight titleholder with the LFA, Cavalcanti made her UFC debut in 2023 and took a unanimous decision over Zarah Fairn. The following year saw the 28-year-old earn split decisions against Josiane Nunes and Nora Cornolle, and last year Cavalcanti improved her UFC record to 5-0 when she also defeated Julia Avila and former title challenger Mayra Bueno Silva. <\/p>\n

\"Zarah<\/p>\n

Zarah Fairn (red gloves) fights Jacqueline Cavalcanti (blue gloves) during UFC Fight Night at Accor Arena. | Per Haljestam-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Extending her unbeaten UFC run against a top-ranked opponent in Vieira would almost certainly put Cavalcanti on the short list for a potential title shot, but the division is in a bit of a standstill at the moment while Harrison recovers from the neck surgery<\/a> that derailed a UFC 324 superfight with returning UFC Hall of Famer Amanda Nunes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A matchup with significant title implications has reportedly been set for a UFC event that will take place…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":506007,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[570],"tags":[64,63,786,785,85],"class_list":["post-506006","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mma","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-fighting","tag-mma","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/506006","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=506006"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/506006\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/506007"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=506006"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=506006"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=506006"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}