Amanda Ribas has a crucial fight in the UFC octagon Saturday when she meets Tabatha Ricci in an all-Brazilian strawweight clash in Abu Dhabi, the city where she made a name for herself with a star-making performance over Paige VanZant in 2020.
A lot has changed since those early-pandemic times, with Ribas going from 4-0 in the UFC to 3-5 in her next eight appearances. The Varginha native won two of three on Abu Dhabi soil, though, and says she’s fixed a few holes in her game to beat Ricci on July 26.
“I’m activating my first round better because I always go in there too slow and apathetic, and then start to grow,” Ribas told MMA Fighting. “I want to go there in a good rhythm and grow, not just get there with a so-so rhythm and then grow. I think that happens because I’m always studying my opponent, you know? I overthink. I’ll leave the overthinking part for the locker room and get to the octagon already in my 100 percent.”
Ribas has bounced between strawweight and flyweight over the past few years, scoring victories over the likes of Virna Jandiroba and Viviane Araujo but losing key matches against Mackenzie Dern, Rose Namajunas, Katlyn Cerminara and Maycee Barber.
Ricci, her upcoming opponent, was riding a win streak over Tecia Pennington and Angela Hill before a decision defeat to Xiaonan Yan. Ribas’ head coach and father Marcelo Ribas broke down her entire career looking for tendencies and openings.
“She was very aggressive in her last fight against Yan Xiaonan,” Ribas said. “That was an important fight for her, Yan was higher ranked, and she didn’t crumble under the pressure. Her boxing has really gotten better, and I know she’s a black belt in jiu-jitsu.
“I hope she comes to stand and trade because I’m bigger than her [laughs]. It will be hard for her to find the distance. She believes in her ground game and I think she will come to grapple, but she’s training boxing a lot with her boyfriend [Callum Walsh] and maybe she wants to do that — but I think that would be better for me.”
Ribas knows that everything posted by MMA fighters on social media can be deceptive. Ricci might share a quick video of her training routine intended to trick her to think something else, for example. That said, Ribas promises she’s ready for every different scenario.
“I saw she’s doing the same takedown Virna and Mackenzie did against me,” Ribas said with a laugh. “I’m training a lot with Alexia [Thainara], she’s doing a lot of judo takedowns and ground work, so I’ll be ready for all that.”
