Amanda Ribas vs. Michelle Waterson in the works for March
An exciting strawweight matchup is in the works for a UFC card this spring. According to Damon Martin of MMA Fighting, the UFC is in the process of putting together a bout between Amanda Ribas and Michelle Waterson. The bout will reportedly take place on March 26 at an event that has no location set at this time.
Amanda Ribas vs. Michelle Waterson is in the works for the upcoming UFC Fight Night card on March 26, multiple sources confirmed to myself and the Brazilian beast @guicruzzz
Story coming to @MMAFighting
— Damon Martin (@DamonMartin) December 6, 2021
Ribas’s last outing in the UFC was back in October when she defeated Virna Jandiroba. Before that Ribas suffered her first UFC loss when she was knocked out by title contender Marina Rodriguez. Ribas has shown herself as one of the toughest fighters in the strawweight division since signing with the UFC. She is currently ranked at number ten in the division. Ribas was initially targeting a bout with Yan Xiaonan before this scheduling.
Waterson is one spot ahead of Ribas in the rankings. Waterson in recent years was very close to the title shot. However, she has now dropped three of her last four fights which have attributed to her slide down the ranks. Waterson and Ribas were scheduled to meet once before, in January of this year. The pair were matched up for the UFC 257 event until Waterson pulled out for a personal reason. That was when Ribas was matched up with Rodriquez and later suffered her loss. Following the fight, she had spoke about wanting to reschedule the fight with Waterson.
Ribas and Waterson both have a very strong fanbase in the UFC. Waterson has been in four main event fights since joining the UFC. Although Ribas is yet to headline a card, she is often featured on the main card. This bout will not be the main event this time, as the card is headlined by a light heavyweight matchup between former champ Jan Blachowicz and Aleksander Rakic.
