Amanda Ribas’ UFC rise was stunted at the end of January. The surging strawweight suffered her first Octagon loss to Marina Rodriguez at UFC 257, losing via TKO. That was Ribas’ first loss since a KO defeat to Polyana Viana back in 2015.
Rodriguez was a late replacement opponent for Ribas. Initially the top 10 prospect was scheduled to face rankings mainstay Michelle Waterson, who is currently ranked 8th. However, Waterson withdrew from the match-up for an undisclosed reason.
Ribas wants to run that original booking back, though. Recently she took to Twitter to let ‘The Karate Hottie’ know she thinks they should meet-up in the cage.
Heyy @karatehottiemma ! What do you think of making our fight happen ?!
I think it would be very cool
let’s go do this @danawhite @Mickmaynard2 @Alexdavismma @ufc @UFCBrasil @espnmma @ribasfight @ParrumpaATT pic.twitter.com/jOL9Qa1mDf— Amanda Ribas (@amandaribasufc) February 26, 2021
“What do you think of making our fight happen?” wrote Ribas. “I think it would be very cool. Let’s go do this!”
Waterson was originally booked to face Ribas off the back of a split decision win over Angela Hill in September. That win came after back-to-back losses to former UFC strawweight champions: Carla Esparza and Joanna Jedrzejczyk.
After paying her dues on the Brazilian national scene Ribas joined the UFC in 2019. Her debut was a rear naked choke win over Emily Whitmire. Ribas then faced fellow BJJ black belt Mackenzie Dern, who she beat by unanimous decision.
In 2020 Ribas followed up that performance with a unanimous decision win over Randa Markos and an armbar submission over Paige VanZant.
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