Rising women’s bantamweight contender Ketlen Vieira had to handle a painful rib injury during her final days of preparation to take on former title challenger, Cat Zingano, at UFC 222, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
She managed to outpoint Zingano and bring home a split decision win to put herself in serious title contention. However, as Vieira told Combate, she was used to fight injured during her judo career, which helped her cope with the pain.
“There were times I really felt it, but I tried to take a deep breath and I would think about my entire team and how much they deserved that win,” Vieira said.