Amanda Ribas was knocked out by Tabatha Ricci this past weekend in Abu Dhabi, but her team is looking at it as divine providence.
Ricci connected an elbow strike in the second round that dislocated a metal plate in Ribas’ face, one that was inserted immediately after a 2023 loss to Maycee Barber. Ribas is expected to undergo surgery Saturday in Sao Paulo, Brazil, to put the plate back in place.
According to her father and coach Marcelo Ribas, the UFC fighter was dealing with many health issues since her first post-surgery fight in November 2023, a knockout victory over Luana Pinheiro just five months short from the Barber loss and subsequent medical procedure.
“The old plate was dislocated in the Luana Pinheiro fight, and Amanda was experiencing faints, severe pain and even seizures [since],” Marcelo Ribas said. “She almost couldn’t train since the Luana fight.”
The coach said they have done a number of tests to try and identify the cause of those problems, including an MRI of the brain, and nothing indicated the plate as the issue. Ribas fought three times since the Pinheiro match, losing to Rose Namajunas, Mackenzie Dern and now Ricci.
“[Amanda] was doing psychiatric and psychological treatment thinking that was [the problem],” Marcelo said. “And if it wasn’t for the elbow, maybe we wouldn’t have found out. It’s God, brother. Thank God we discovered what was causing the pains, faints and seizures since the Luana fight.”
Amanda Ribas is doing exams at the Albert Einstein Hospital in Sao Paulo this week to determine the path to surgery with Dr. Sergio Miranda. The main concern right now is getting better, Marcelo said, not setting a timetable for a return to training.
“She’s not in pain anymore,” Marcelo said. “She felt the worst pain in the world on the trigeminal nerve, and the worse is over.”
