While
Amanda
Ribas has certainly made her mark in the
Ultimate Fighting Championship, consistency has proven elusive
thus far.
The charismatic 29-year-old Brazilian will toe the line against
fellow blue-chip prospect
Maycee
Barber in the
UFC on ABC 5 women’s strawweight co-main event this Saturday at
Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida. Ribas has
alternated wins and losses in each of her past five outings. She
last appeared at UFC 285, where she took a unanimous decision from
Viviane
Araujo in their three-round encounter on March 4.
As Ribas makes final preparations for her looming showdown with
Barber at 115 pounds, a look at five of the many moments that have
come to define her:
1. A Star on the Rise
Ribas walked away with the
Jungle
Fight women’s strawweight crown in just her fourth professional
assignment, as she disposed of Tania Pareda with a rear-naked choke
in the first round of their JF 79 headliner on July 4, 2015 at the
Miecimo da Silva Sport Center in Rio de Janeiro. Pereda conceded
defeat 76 seconds into Round 1. Ribas bridged the divide with
punches and executed a single-leg takedown inside the first 15
seconds. From there, she transitioned from half guard to full
mount, threatened with ground-and-pound and progressed to Pareda’s
back. Soon after, the choke was in place and the outcome was a
formality.
2. Uneasy Lies the Head
Tata Fight Team’s
Polyana
Viana captured the Jungle Fight women’s strawweight
championship when she knocked out Ribas in the first round of their
JF 83 co-main event on Nov. 18, 2015 at the Botafogo Soccer and
Rowing Club Gymnasium in Rio de Janeiro. Viana brought it to an
emphatic close 2:54 into Round 1. Ribas was the aggressor from the
outset, as the undefeated prospect paired her jab and overhand
right with ill intent. However, as she closed the distance, she did
so with her hands low and her chin high; and she emerged from a
clinch exchange with a bloody nose. Soon after, Viana cut loose
with a multi-punch volley and punctuated it with a clean right
hook. Ribas hit the deck, and in her haste to cling to a desperate
takedown attempt, she left herself exposed once more. A final
volley of short punches and hammerfists rendered her unconscious
and made Viana a champion at 115 pounds.
3. Proving Ground
Ribas made a successful Octagon debut when she submitted
Emily
Whitmire with a second-round rear-naked choke as part of the
UFC on ESPN 3 undercard on June 29, 2019 at the Target Center in
Minneapolis. Whitmire raised the white flag 2:10 into Round 2, her
modest two-fight winning having run its course. Ribas imposed her
will on the
Xtreme Couture standout and forced her to play defense
throughout the first round, where she climbed to the back, secured
position with a body triangle and hunted a finish. Whitmire
survived to see the middle stanza but failed to keep a safe
distance. Ribas dragged her to the mat, advanced to mount and
battered her with rapid-fire punches. She then transitioned to the
back for the fight-ending choke.
4. Not the B-Side
A consistent jab, airtight takedown defense and sublime lateral
movement spurred Ribas to a unanimous decision over previously
unbeaten 2015 Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Wrestling World
Championships gold medalist
Mackenzie
Dern in a UFC Fight Night 161 women’s strawweight attraction on
Oct. 12, 2019 at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida. All three cageside
judges scored it 30-27. In her first appearance in more than a
year, Dern was woefully inept on the feet and too often was left
swinging at air. Ribas—who holds the rank of black belt in judo and
Brazilian jiu-jitsu—scored with a throw in the first round,
utilized an effective sprawl and peppered her counterpart with
punches from the outside. By the time it was over, she had
outlanded Dern by a 74-20 count in significant strikes and limited
her to a mere two seconds of control time.
5. Work Left to Do
Former two-division
Cage Fury Fighting Championships titleholder
Katlyn
Chookagian outstruck Ribas to a split decision in a UFC on ESPN
36 women’s flyweight showcase on May 14, 2022 at the UFC Apex in
Las Vegas. All three cageside judges submitted 29-28 scorecards:
Derek Cleary for Ribas, Sal D’Amato and Junichiro Kamijo for
Chookagian. Ribas, who reportedly entered the cage with a ruptured
biceps tendon, completed three takedowns and piled up nearly five
minutes of control time but failed to exact enough of a toll to
attract the desired attention. Chookagian made the most of her
opportunities in the standup exchanges, where she relied on her
rangy kickboxing and superior skills to dictate the terms of their
engagement.