Tabatha Ricci extends win streak, defeats Gillian Robertson at UFC on ABC 5

The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to us today, June 24, 2023, for UFC on ABC 5, going down live from the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida.

Headlining the event is an epic clash of featherweight contenders where no. 5 ranked Josh Emmett (18-3) collides with no. 9 ranked Ilia Topuria (13-0) in the main event of the evening.

Co-headlining is a flyweight encounter between another pair of contenders in no. 9 ranked Amanda Ribas (12-3) and no. 11 ranked Maycee Barber (12-2).

Going down in the middle of the preliminary card today was a strawweight bout, this one coming between no. 15 ranked Tabatha Ricci (9-1) and the talent with the most submission wins in women’s promotional history Gillian Robertson (12-8).

Ricci, following defeat to no. 2 ranked Manon Fiorot in her UFC debut, has since won her last three-straight, while Robertson came in on a two-fight streak of her own.

Continue reading to see how this strawweight encounter went down:

Official Result: Tabatha Ricci def. Gillian Robertson via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)

Robertson tries diligently to get Ricci down to the mat early on in the first, though she’s denied on her attempts and put on her back herself. She’s back to her feet quickly, before Ricci takes her down momentarily again.

Ricci’s striking and wrestling, both offensively and defensively, look good throughout the opening five minutes.

The middle stretch is a repeat of the first, with Ricci winning nearly every exchange.

Robertson does however show a glimpse of hope when she finally secures a takedown one minute into the third and final round. It briefly appeared Robertson did have a chance to win this fight. But, Ricci gets back to her feet shortly thereafter and gets back to out-striking her on the feet for the remainder of the bout.

Make that 4 in a row for @TabathaRicci 💪

The #UFCJacksonville prelims continue live on @ESPN! pic.twitter.com/7AQpAV5Ib0

— UFC (@ufc) June 24, 2023

28 year old Tabatha Ricci is a highly skilled prospect to keep an eye on in the future. She just secured the biggest victory of her young 10-fight career today at UFC on ABC 5.

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Brady Ordway

I became a fan of combat sports when I was 12 years old. I was scrolling through the channels and landed upon Versus, where WEC was televised. Urijah Faber fought Jens Pulver for the second time that night. That's the first fight I ever saw, and I was immediately hooked. So eventually, I began covering the sport in the fourth quarter of 2018, and have since started writing about animals as well. If you'd like to see those pieces, be sure to check out learnaboutnature.com!

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