Just found out that the UFC is looking to
book Amanda Ribas on the March 4 event (UFC Fight Night 221).— Christian Stein (@CopperHeartCT)
December 8, 2022
A fan-favorite flyweight up-and-comer in the Ultimate Fighting Championship should be back
in action within a few months.
According to a source close to the situation on Thursday, Amanda
Ribas (11-3) is being targeted for a flyweight fight at
UFC
285 on March 4 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Her opponent
is still to be determined, but it is not expected to be Tracy
Cortez. Options being considered include a rematch with
Katlyn
Chookagian, or fresh matchups against either Viviane
Araujo or Taila
Santos.
Ribas and Cortez were slated to face off against one another at UFC
on ESPN 42 on Dec. 3 in Florida, but Cortez was pulled shortly
after the weigh-ins concluded. Cortez had successfully made weight,
with the medical scratch reportedly unrelated to her weight cut.
This put an end to the Brazilian potentially concluding her 2022
campaign with a win, as her lone appearance this year came against
Chookagian in May. The 29-year-old dropped a competitive split
decision to the top contender Chookagian in her return to the
flyweight division in defeat. Before the setback, Ribas bookended a
knockout loss to Marina
Rodriguez with victories over Paige
VanZant in 2020 and Virna
Jandiroba in 2021.
UFC 285 will go down inside the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on
March 4, and there is currently no headliner on the books. A few
fights are sprinkled on its lineup thus far, including a
middleweight pairing between Jamie
Pickett and Bo Nickal, a
strawweight scrap of Jessica
Penne vs. Tabatha
Ricci, and a bantamweight battle also reported on Thursday by
MMA
Junkie where Farid
Basharat takes on Da’Mon
Blackshear.