Strawweight contender Virna Jandiroba knows what it feels like to suffer a hard loss in the Octagon. Although ‘Carcara’ has been able to recover from a frustrating defeat to Mackenzie Dern with a victory over Kanako Murata, the Brazilian believes her next opponent must be going through the same process.
Paired up against Amanda Ribas, who got TKO’d by Marina Rodriguez in her last outing, Jandiroba tells Combate how impacted she was by her loss to Dern. However, now that Virna was able to put the loss behind her, she hopes to show an improved version of herself at UFC 267.
“Amanda is coming off a loss and I know what that’s like. We go into the fight on survival mode, so it’s going to be a good fight to watch. My win (over Murata) meant a lot for many reasons. The Mackenzie fight emotionally messed with me. So that win over Murata was part of a process of reevaluation. It meant a lot to me.”
“Amanda Ribas is a well-rounded athlete.” Virna continued. “Although her specialty is judo, she’s a complete fighter. I also feel much more well-rounded now, much more powerful. it’s going to be a great fight, because I’m much more confident.”
In her last outing, Jandiroba (17-2) scored a TKO due to injury against Murata, back in June. Prior to that, Virna had suffered her first ever Octagon defeat, the aforementioned unanimous decision loss to Dern, back in December 2020.
Now, Jandiroba is expected to take on Ribas 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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