Rivalries: Amanda Ribas

Amanda Ribas looks like a future star at times and a giant question mark at others.

The former Jungle Fight champion will draw her first assignment of 2022 when she collides with Katlyn Chookagian in a UFC on ESPN 36 women’s strawweight feature this Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Ribas, 28, has delivered seven of her 11 career victories by knockout, technical knockout or submission. She sports a 5-1 record as a member of the Ultimate Fighting Championship roster—a run that includes wins over Emily Whitmire, Randa Markos and Paige VanZant.

In advance of Ribas’ forthcoming battle with Chookagian at 115 pounds, a look at some of the rivalries that have helped shape her career to this point:

Polyana Viana

The Tata Fight Team export captured the women’s strawweight championship when she knocked out Ribas in the first round of their Jungle Fight 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.

Mackenzie Dern

A consistent jab, airtight takedown defense and sublime lateral movement spurred Ribas to a unanimous decision over the previously unbeaten 2015 Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Wrestling World Championships gold medalist in a UFC Fight Night 161 women’s strawweight showcase 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.

Marina Rodriguez

The Dana White’s Contender Series graduate put away Ribas with punches in the second round of their featured UFC 257 attraction on Jan. 23, 2021 at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Rodriguez drew the curtain 54 seconds into Round 2. Ribas secured a takedown and controlled much of the first round from top position. However, her luck changed in an instant in the second. There, she walked into a counter right hook from Rodriguez, faceplanted and continued to eat punches while referee Herb Dean hovered above. Dean appeared to make contact with Rodriguez but did not call for the stoppage, leading to a momentary pause. She then resumed her assault on the still wobbly Ribas, connected with another thudding right and forced Dean to act.

Virna Jandiroba

Ribas reasserted herself in the Ultimate Fighting Championship women’s strawweight division and showed no lingering effects from her aforementioned loss to Rodriguez, as she took a unanimous decision from Jandiroba in the featured UFC 267 prelim on Oct. 30, 2021 at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. All three judges struck 29-28 scorecards. Jandiroba executed a takedown and sat down the onetime Jungle Fight champion with an overhand right in the first round. From there, Ribas seized command. She tore into the former Invicta Fighting Championships titleholder with multi-punch bursts, often punctuating them with leg kicks. Ribas had her fellow Brazilian reeling in Round 3, where she blindsided her with a head kick and pursued the finish with follow-up punches. Though a stoppage failed to materialize, the die had been cast.