Amanda Ribas opens up on UFC 257 TKO loss to Marina Rodriguez: ‘She found the perfect shot’
Amanda Ribas was looking to become a serious contender at strawweight when she opened up the UFC 257 main card against Marina Rodriguez.
Entering the bout, Ribas was a sizeable favorite and in the first round, proved that with her grappling to win the round. However, in the second round, Rodriguez started to land heavy shots and eventually dropped Ribas and finished her off via TKO. It was a disappointing loss for Ribas who says Rodriguez found the perfect shot.
“She found the perfect shot. I won’t even say I won the first round,” Amanda Ribas said to Combate. “She won the fight, it doesn’t matter what happened before. I told this to some of my judo friends. It’s no use if you can pull off an osoto gari or an uchi mata if they come back and ippon you. It’s the perfect shot.”
“I’ve rewatched the fight.” Ribas continued. “At that moment, I didn’t even know what happened. I tried to take Marina down, but I was already out. I think I did well in the first round, but rewatching the fight I noticed that when I was going for the neck, she gave me some space and I could’ve tried a different submission.”
During the second round, many were wondering why Ribas wasn’t shooting for takedowns. She was clearly the better grappler and controlled the first round on the ground. However, the Brazilian wanted to show off her striking and prove she was a well-rounded fighter. Ultimately, that ended up costing her the fight.
“I already had the ‘no.’ Everyone thought my Muay Thai was no good, so I went after the ‘yes’. I couldn’t get it. I don’t want to be a mediocre fighter. I want to show I can be really good anywhere. I’ll work to get there. I haven’t spoken with Marina after that. I don’t know what it was like for Marina (to deal with the hype), but I really tried to capitalize on it. I said Conor would be the cherry and I would be the chocolate cake,” Ribas concluded.
