Amanda Ribas jokes she won’t rule out return to flyweight because ‘it’s hard to say no’ to Mick Maynard
Amanda Ribas won five of six UFC bouts in her natural weight class of 115 pounds, a contrast to her 2-3 run as a flyweight, but there’s a reason why she won’t rule out going back up to 125 pounds.
Ribas headlines Saturday night’s UFC Vegas 101 show at the UFC APEX in a rematch with Mackenzie Dern, one of her first victims inside the octagon, and hopes to insert her name in the conversation for a shot at the gold after Tatiana Suarez challenges Zhang Weili. That doesn’t mean, however, that she would turn down another opportunity at flyweight.
“I like the flyweight [division] because I never fight random opponents there, it’s always someone good,” Ribas told MMA Fighting. Despite losing three of her past four at 125 pounds, those defeats came against top-ranked talents Katlyn Cerminara, Maycee Barber, and Rose Namajunas.
“If the UFC keeps offering me good fighters — and the 115 girls are already booked —, I’ll go. I like to stay active, you know?” she continued. “But I want to focus at 115 because I’m already close to the [title] depending on this fight. [But] it’s hard to say no to [UFC matchmaker] Mick [Maynard], especially when he comes with the No. 2, the No. 3 [laughs]. How do I say no?”
Ribas was 1-0 in the UFC and Dern was undefeated in the sport when they first met in 2019. Now the Varginha native feels she’s “much more experienced” in many aspects of life, from training to maturity as a woman, including the ability to fight as a southpaw when things start to go south in the cage.
“I think I’m a big name in the division already, the fact that I beat Virna [Jandiroba] and she’s now ranked No. 3,” Ribas said. “I think that this win over Mackenzie will put me right there at the top and I’ll maybe need one more, maybe the winner of Virna and Xiaonan [Yan], to go for the belt.”
“I don’t know, maybe Tatiana wins and gets hurt and I’m next,” she continued. “I think the UFC sees those who are staying active and have the hype. They want a champion that will also elevate UFC’s name, and that’s why I have to stay active.”