Nine months after her last bout and having dealt with a rough case of COVID-19, strawweight prospect Amanda Ribas is anxious to return to the cage at UFC 267. Paired up against fellow Brazilian Virna Jandiroba for a preliminary bout, the 28-year-old wants to make up for the time lost.
Away from the Octagon since a January TKO defeat to Marina Rodriguez, Ribas cannot wait to have her hand raised once again. Once paired up against Angela Hill in May, the Brazilian was forced out of the card due to a positive COVID-19 test.
Now fully vaccinated and ready to fight, Amanda tells Ag Fight she is eager to show the world everything that she has worked on for the past months.
“It was crazy because I had gone through a whole fight camp, I cut the weight, I got my hair done, I was warmed up to fight and then it turned out I had COVID for the second time. This second time, it was hard, but thank God, my father (who was also infected at the time) and I are all right. We’ve recovered well. That’s why it took me a while to come back, so I could be fully recovered. This disease is kind of crazy. Thank God I’m already vaccinated. I don’t feel a thing now.”
“I was already anxious to fight, win, show my work.” Ribas continued. “Having gone through a whole camp to not fight has just increased this hunger. Everything I do, I mean it. I put my energy into it. So that’s how I’m going into this fight, with that hunger to fight.”
Before the defeat to Rodriguez, Ribas (10-2) was on a four-fight winning streak in the UFC, with wins over Paige VanZant, Randa Markos, Mackenzie Dern and Emily Whitmire, with two of them coming by way of submission and two by unanimous decision.
Now, Ribas is expected to take on Jandiroba at UFC 267, on October 30, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The card is scheduled to be headlined by a light heavyweight title fight between the champion, Jan Blachowicz, and challenger Glover Teixeira.
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