The main fight card for UFC Vegas 43 features a five fight card. The card will see longtime veteran Miesha Tate (pictured above right) make her second octagon appearance after coming out of retirement earlier this year. She’ll fight fellow ranked bantamweight Ketlen Vieira (pictured above left) in the main event. All projections are based off a fighter’s CC rating and their place in the CC rankings.

You can view the forecasts for the prelim card here and here.

Adrian Yanez vs. Davey Grant (Men’s Bantamweight)

Adrian Yanez

• CC Rating: 1657.8
• Division Ranking: 33rd out of 79 bantamweights
• Overall Ranking: 203rd out of 502 men

Davey Grant

• CC Rating: 1591.3
• Division Ranking: 48th out of 79 bantamweights
• Overall Ranking: 342nd out of 502 men

Yanez has done just about everything you could ask for from a young fighter in the UFC. In his first three bouts in the big promotion, he is 3-0 with three knockouts and three performance of the night bonuses. It doesn’t get much better than that. Another win will bring demand for a top tier talent next time out. He’s been a CC forecast favorite in two of his three wins, and the only time he came in as an underdog, it was a razor thin margin. Yanez has shown in dazzling fashion that he is a notch above some of this talent pool.

Looking to stop that momentum will be Grant. It has been almost eight years since Grant repped Team Rousey on Season 18 of The Ultimate Fighter. Despite losing the finale bout, he would get his shot in the UFC and deliver an impressive win over Marlon Vera (#6 CC, #11 UFC). Unfortunately for Grant, however, he’d string together two straight losses after that. Grant found his footing, though, following that streak with three consecutive wins before losing his most recent bout in June in a rematch with Vera.

Grant is not a caliber Yanez has not seen before and Yanez has dispatched his opponents with ease. The algorithm sees this bout going the same way.

CC Projection: Adrian Yanez (59.5%)

Joanne Wood vs. [2] Taila Santos (Women’s Flyweight)

Joanne Wood

• CC Rating: 1568.2
• Division Ranking: 18th out of 43 flyweights
• Overall Ranking: 50th out of 119 women

Taila Santos

• CC Rating: 1707.8
• Division Ranking: 3rd out of 43 flyweights
• Overall Ranking: 8th out of 119 women

Wood (NR CC, #5 UFC) has been knocking at the door of a flyweight title shot for some time now. She had it secured, before the champion Valentina Shevchenko pulled out with injury. Instead of waiting, Wood (then Calderwood) decided to take a fight against Jennifer Maia (#6 CC, #4 UFC) in a title eliminator fight. She would lose by submission and watch her shot at gold evaporate. The same happened in another quasi-title eliminator against Lauren Murphy (#4 CC, #3 UFC). Wood lost a narrow split decision and watched Murphy get the shot again. The way Shevchenko runs through opponents, it may only be a matter of time for Wood, but with a 7-6 record in the UFC, it’s getting harder to justify.

Santos (#2 CC, #10 UFC) is an impressive 18-1 in her professional career, with her only loss being her UFC debut against Mara Romero Borella. She is 3-1 since joining the UFC, with all wins coming by decision. Don’t let that fool you, though. Santos has 12 wins by finish in her career. She can end a fight at any time. A win against Wood would likely put her neck-and-neck with Andrea Lee for the next title shot at Shevchenko. A finish would certainly help her case. Now would be as good a time as any for her first stoppage in the UFC.

Santos has been so dominant throughout her career, whereas Calderwood has struggled to get any kind of momentum. Santos comes in as a heavy favorite.

CC Projection: Taila Santos (66.8%)

[11] Rani Yahya vs. Kyung Ho Kang (Men’s Bantamweight)

Rani Yahya

• CC Rating: 1730.3
• Division Ranking: 13th out of 79 bantamweights
• Overall Ranking: 97th out of 502 men

Kyung Ho Kang

• CC Rating: 1632.9
• Division Ranking: 38th out of 79 bantamweights
• Overall Ranking: 242nd out of 502 men

Yahya (#11 CC, NR UFC) is a veteran of over 10 years in the UFC. He’s amassed a 12-4-1 record in 17 fights in the big promotion. Each of his last four wins have come by way of submission, and he is 4-1-1 over his last six fights. Even at age 37, Yahya is still a dangerous force on the ground. His best days may be behind him, but Yahya is proving that he definitely still belongs heading toward the end of his career.

Winner of three of his last four and six of his last seven, Kang is making a run at age 34. Kang debuted in the UFC in March of 2013, where he suffered a defeat to Alex Caceres, which was subsequently changed to a no contest, due to Caceres failing a post-fight drug test. Yahya will certainly be the highest rated fighter Kang has faced in a long time. It has also been almost two years since Kang fought anyone, with his last fight being in December 2019. We will see if that time off stalled the momentum he had going to that point.

Yahya’s resume and overall body of work is more impressive, despite Kang’s recent success. Kang hasn’t faced anyone this high yet and the algorithm believes he’s not at that level yet.

CC Projection: Rani Yahya (63.7%)

[14] Michael Chiesa vs. Sean Brady (Men’s Welterweight)

Michael Chiesa

• CC Rating: 1765.6
• Division Ranking: 15th out of 75 welterweights
• Overall Ranking: 59th out of 502 men

Sean Brady

• CC Rating: 1752.3
• Division Ranking: 18th out of 75 welterweights
• Overall Ranking: 74th out of 502 men

Chiesa (#14 CC, #6 UFC) seemed pretty close to a title fight earlier this year. Rumors swirled that the champion Kamaru Usman wanted to fight Chiesa at UFC 263, or even at UFC 261 instead of Jorge Masvidal (#4 CC, #7 UFC). However, it never materialized and Chiesa was matched up with Vicente Luque (#1 CC, #4 UFC). Chiesa looked like he had Luque in trouble early, but ended up being the latest in Luque long string of finish wins. Chiesa is still the winner of four of his last five and will look to re-generate that buzz around a title shot by being the first loss of his opponent’s career.

Brady (NR CC, #14 UFC) comes in a perfect 14-0 in his MMA career, with his last four wins being in the UFC. He’s knocked off some tough opponents thus far, but Chiesa will be his biggest test to date. Signs show Brady is improving, as his most recent two victories were both submission wins. Before the UFC, Brady was the Cage Fury welterweight champion, defending that belt two times before moving up. With no losses to his name, he’ll look to make a run at UFC gold soon enough.

Chiesa’s experience is the difference maker in this very close co-main event.

CC Projection: Michael Chiesa (51.9%)

[5] Ketlen Vieira vs. [3] Miesha Tate (Women’s Bantamweight)

Ketlen Vieira

• CC Rating: 1644.8
• Division Ranking: 6th out of 28 bantamweights
• Overall Ranking: 26th out of 119 women

Miesha Tate

• CC Rating: 1672.4
• Division Ranking: 4th out of 28 bantamweights
• Overall Ranking: 17th out of 119 women

Vieira (#5 CC, #7 UFC) came into the UFC a perfect 6-0, having won cahmpionships in two separate promotions prior. She backed up that hype by winning her first four inside the UFC, including an impressive win over former title challenger Cat Zingano. However, that momentum stalled hard when she was knocked out cold by Irene Aldana (#4 CC, #3 UFC). Vieira would recover against Sijara Eubanks in her next bout. Most recently, Vieira is coming off a loss against Yana Kunitskaya (#13 CC, #6 UFC) where she also missed weight. Vieira looks to get back on track and keep her title aspirations alive.

Tate (#3 CC, #8 UFC) looked as good as she ever has when she returned from retirement in July, defeating Marion Reneau. The former champ, Tate will face a tougher test this time out in Vieira. No one else has held the women’s bantamweight belt since Tate lost it to Amanda Nunes at UFC 200. With that belt going back on the line at UFC 269 next month, Tate could make a win here a heck of an audition tape to get a rematch with Nunes (if Nunes successfully defends) for her old title.

Tate’s championship resume and Vieira’s recent struggles are enough to tip the scales for the former champ.

CC Projection: Miesha Tate (54.0%)

Photo Credit: ESPN.com