Ketlen Vieira says USADA hurt her weight cut, calls out Lauren Murphy

PORTLAND, Ore. – Ketlen Vieira just barely made her way into the UFC, but it seems she brought a hit list with her.

After earning a split-decision victory over Kelly Fasholz (3-2 MMA, 0-2 UFC) in UFC Fight Night 96’s opening scrap, Vieira (7-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) didn’t wince when asked about what she wants next.

And, more than when or where, she’s focused on the who.

“I’d like to fight Lauren Murphy, who beat Kelly Fasholz,” Vieira said after the event. “I’d like her. If the UFC puts me against her, I want it. If it’s in Sao Paulo (UFC Fight Night 100 on Nov. 19), or whatever, I want her.”

Vieira’s successful UFC debut and women’s bantamweight bout opened up the preliminary card of Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 96 event at Moda Center in Portland, Ore. It streamed on UFC Fight Pass ahead of additional prelims on FS2 and a main card on FS1.

Prior to the in-octagon battle, Vieira said she had to deal with some fight-week complications in regard to her weight cut. With the help of her coach and interpreter Andre Pederneiras, Vieira explained the situation that led her to scramble with the scale at the last minute.

“I was going well on my weight cut, but during it, USADA came to test me, and that hurt me a lot,” Vieira said. “I had to drink almost one liter of water, and that was an added 2.2 pounds that I had to cut at the last minute.”

Pederneiras went on to explain that, after Vieira was done with cutting for the day, she needed to rehydrate in order to provide a urine sample – an issue that, he said, was later brought to UFC Vice President of Athlete Health and Performance Jeff Novitzky’s attention.

Despite the difficulties, Vieira was not among the three Brazilian athletes who failed to make weight. And, close call aside, she ended up getting her hand raised after a grappling-heavy display in what was only her seventh pro MMA fight.

While happy with a victorious octagon debut so early into her two-year professional MMA career, the judo black belt said she can do better in the future. And that, Vieira said, might involve foregoing the judges’ scorecards altogether.

“I think I have a lot more to show,” Vieira said. “It was positive for a debut, but we’re going to look to keep evolving.

“I also thought I won every round, but when we leave it to the judges, we subject ourselves to this. Next time I’ll train harder to finish the fight and not leave it up to the judges.”

Fore more on Vieira’s thoughts on her debut and fight-week issues, check out the video above.

And for complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 96, check out the UFC Events section of the site.