Amanda Ribas gained 5 of six UFC bouts in her pure weight class of 115 kilos, a distinction to her 2-3 run as a flyweight, however there’s a cause why she gained’t rule out going again as much as 125 kilos.
Ribas headlines Saturday night time’s UFC Vegas 101 present on the UFC APEX in a rematch with Mackenzie Dern, certainly one of her first victims contained in the octagon, and hopes to insert her identify within the dialog for a shot on the gold after Tatiana Suarez challenges Zhang Weili. That doesn’t imply, nevertheless, that she would flip down one other alternative at flyweight.
“I just like the flyweight [division] as a result of I by no means battle random opponents there, it’s all the time somebody good,” Ribas advised MMA Preventing. Regardless of shedding three of her previous 4 at 125 kilos, these defeats got here in opposition to top-ranked abilities Katlyn Cerminara, Maycee Barber, and Rose Namajunas.
“If the UFC retains providing me good fighters — and the 115 ladies are already booked —, I’ll go. I like to remain lively, you recognize?” she continued. “However I wish to focus at 115 as a result of I’m already near the Amanda Ribas jokes she gained’t rule out return to flyweight as a result of ‘it’s exhausting to say no’ to Mick Maynard relying on this battle. [But] it’s exhausting to say no to [UFC matchmaker] Mick [Maynard], particularly when he comes with the No. 2, the No. 3 [laughs]. How do I say no?”
Ribas was 1-0 within the UFC and Dern was undefeated within the sport after they first met in 2019. Now the Varginha native feels she’s “way more skilled” in lots of points of life, from coaching to maturity as a girl, together with the flexibility to battle as a southpaw when issues begin to go south within the cage.
“I believe I’m a giant identify within the division already, the truth that I beat Virna [Jandiroba] and she or he’s now ranked No. 3,” Ribas mentioned. “I believe that this win over Mackenzie will put me proper there on the high and I’ll possibly want another, possibly the winner of Virna and Xiaonan [Yan], to go for the belt.”
“I don’t know, possibly Tatiana wins and will get harm and I’m subsequent,” she continued. “I believe the UFC sees those that are staying lively and have the hype. They need a champion that may also elevate UFC’s identify, and that’s why I’ve to remain lively.”
