BJJ black belt and rising star Amanda Ribas has just lost out on the biggest opportunity of her UFC career so far, as Carla Esparza has withdrawn from their December 12th bout. She’s undefeated in the UFC so far and has earned her shot at a fighter ranked reasonably highly, so she revealed to AG Fight who she’d like to take on instead of Esparza, Michelle Waterson.
“That bummed me out, I had called out the winner of Esparza vs. Rodriguez after I won my last fight. Carla said she would accept it and that got me excited. There was a chance we could fight in October, then she asked to postpone it to December, but I already knew it wasn’t going to happen. I don’t know what happened. I heard a rumor that it could have been COVID-19. If that’s what it is, I wish her a speedy recovery. I’ll be waiting for her in January. But I would still like to fight in December. I’m in a good moment, I’m losing weight well. I want to take advantage of that and fight in December.”
“The UFC has not spoken to me yet.” Ribas added. “But I would like to fight Michelle Waterson, because it would be a great fight. She’s well-ranked and I’m trying to fight the ones ahead of me so I can climb up. The fans would enjoy this fight. I love her kicks, they’re beautiful and I’ll be able to showcase my striking.”
Amanda Ribas certainly deserves the fight, but whether Waterson will accept remains to be seen. So far, Ribas has notched up four straight victories in the UFC including two submission wins over Emily Whitmire and Paige Van Zant. In between those two wins, she also outworked a fellow BJJ black belt in Mackenzie Dern, beating her by Unanimous Decision.
