Amanda Ribas weighs in for her fight against Emily Whitmire in June 2019. PhotoCred: FanSided
Amanda Ribas to fight former UFC strawweight champion Carla Esparza at UFC 256
Amanda Ribas will be getting a big step up in competition when she takes on the former UFC strawweight champion, Carla Esparza at UFC 256 on December 12.
MMAFighting was the first to report the news and has been confirmed by MyMMANews.com.
Ribas became a star following her first-round submission win over Paige VanZant at UFC 251. She then hung around Fight Island to watch the other events and even got to watch one with Dana White. The Brazilian was someone the media and fans were talking about for weeks after due to her personality and her fighting.
The Brazilian is undefeated in the UFC and holds a professional record of 10-1. She is currently 2-0 in 2020 with the submission win over VanZant and a decision win over Randa Markos in March. Ribas was also the first person to beat Mackenzie Dern as she won by decision last October. She had a successful UFC debut against Emily Whitmire where she got a second-round submission.
Her only loss came by TKO to Polyana Viana in Jungle Fight back in 2015. Ribas had also called for the winner of Carla Esparza vs. Marina Rodriguez after her win and she got her request.
Carla Esparza, meanwhile, is on a four-fight winning streak and coming off a split decision win over Rodriguez. Before that, she. edged out another split decision win over Michelle Waterson. The other two wins came by majority decision over Alexa Grasso and a unanimous decision win over Virna Jandiroba.
Ever since she lost back-to-back fights against Claudia Gadelha and Tatianna Suarez, Espzara has turned it around. She is now looking to get another title shot and if she beats Ribas, she could make the case to be next in line.
UFC 256 currently has no location but many have hinted at it being on Fight Island. The card is set to be headlined by a welterweight title fight between Kamaru Usman and Gilbert Burns. It will also feature a women’s featherweight title fight between Amanda Nunes and Megan Anderson.
Current UFC 256 fight card:
Kamaru Usman vs. Gilbert Burns – 170 lbs
Amanda Nunes vs. Megan Anderson – 145 lbs
Carla Esparza vs. Amanda Ribas – 115 lbs
