5 Defining Moments: Amanda Ribas

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.