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MMA Junkie analyst Dan Tom takes a look at the UFC on ESPN 53 main event between Amanda Ribas and former champ Rose Namajunas.
MMA Junkie analyst Dan Tom breaks down the UFC’s top bouts. Today, we look at the main event for UFC on ESPN 53.
UFC on ESPN 53 (ESPN/ESPN+) takes place Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Rose Namajunas and Amanda Ribas gave their takes on the upcoming UFC on ESPN 54 headliner.
[autotag]Rose Namajunas[/autotag] and [autotag]Amanda Ribas[/autotag] have revealed their predictions for the upcoming UFC on ESPN 54 main event.
Former two-time strawweight champion Namajunas (11-6 MMA, 9-5 UFC) meets Ribas (12-4 MMA, 7-3 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 53 (ESPN/ESPN+) main event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. One week later, [autotag]Erin Blanchfield[/autotag] and [autotag]Manon Fiorot[/autotag] squares off in a pivotal five-round No. 1 contender bout in Atlantic City, N.J.
Namajunas, whose most recent setback came as a unanimous decision to Fiorot (11-1 MMA, 6-0 UFC) in September, thinks Blanchfield’s (12-1 MMA, 6-0 UFC) pace will be too much.
“I’m kind of leaning towards Erin,” Namajunas told MMA Junkie and other reporters at pre-fight news conference Wednesday. “I wouldn’t be surprised if Manon finds a way to win. She’s very good, and she’s a very interesting matchup for Erin, but I just feel like the pace Erin puts out, she impressed me with that.
“Her tenacity, and she also really knows how to find ways to win. I just think with our fight with Manon, she was kind of fading away at the end, and I think Erin is going to keep growing. I believe it’s five rounds so, she’ll probably account for that. But I’m leaning towards Erin in this one.”
Ribas had an opposing opinion, though tentatively presented.
“Good question,” Ribas said. “I think Manon.”
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 53.
Amanda Ribas thinks she’s done everything right to beat former champ Rose Namajunas in Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 53 headliner.
LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Amanda Ribas[/autotag] thinks she’s done everything right to beat former champ Rose Namajunas in Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 53 headliner.
Ribas (12-4 MMA, 7-3 UFC) will look to secure the biggest victory of her career when she meets two-time strawweight champion Namajunas (11-6 MMA, 9-5 UFC) in a five-round women’s flyweight main event at the UFC Apex (ESPN, ESPN+).
The Brazilian made her octagon debut in June 2019 with the dream of one day being at the top of the bill on a UFC card. She’s experienced highs and lows since then, but now she finally realizes one of her most significant career goals.
“Since the first time that I signed a UFC poster, I was imaging my face there,” Ribas told MMA Junkie and other reporters at Wednesday’s media day. “Yesterday I signed with my face, and since the first day at camp I was like, ‘OK, the time is now. You are doing the main event. So let’s go.’
“I’m prepared for all – to do five rounds, to the end or the beginning. I’m training to do a war and do a really good fight for the fans to enjoy and say this is worth being a main event.”
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This might be the best time for Ribas to cross paths with Namajunas. Her American foe has suffered back-to-back losses, including her 125-pound debut against Manon Fiorot in September. Namajunas has never lost three fights in a row, so she will either rebound or fall to a newfound low.
Ribas, 30, isn’t looking at Namajunas, 31, as being in a compromised position, though, and won’t count on vulnerabilities.
“I always put in my mind that I will fight the best Rose Namajunas ever,” Ribas said. “I’m training for the best in her. If something comes not like this, I’m prepared.”
Ribas enters UFC on ESPN 53 in a rare position among fighters on the roster. According to the promotion’s official rankings, she’s No. 8 in the women’s flyweight division and No. 7 at strawweight. She’s bounced between weight classes when the opportunities have made sense, and will continue with that approach moving forward.
“I really enjoyed last year where I did three fights,” Ribas said. “I hope I can do three fights this year, too, inside the octagon, and I hope if I win, God will bless me with that, I can do a top five and maybe go to the belt.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 53.
Our “Spinning Back Clique” picks their favorite fights on the schedule so far for Q1 2024.
It’s a new year and that means a whole new slate of fights ahead.
As the UFC and other promotions fill out their Q1 2024 calendar, some intriguing matchups have been announced.
From [autotag]Brandon Moreno[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Brandon Royval[/autotag] 2 in Mexico, to the return of [autotag]Rose Namajunas[/autotag] against [autotag]Amanda Ribas[/autotag] in Las Vegas, and [autotag]Sean Brady[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Vicente Luque[/autotag] in Atlantic City, there are a number of fun matchups to get excited about.
But which fights are our favorites?
That’s what our “Spinning Back Clique” of Nolan King, Dan Tom and Brian “Goze” Garcia discussed along with host “Gorgeous” George Garcia.
You can watch their discussion in the video above, or check out this week’s episode below on YouTube or in podcast form.
There were 35 UFC fight announcements that were first reported or confirmed by MMA Junkie in the past week.
MMA fight announcements are hard to follow. With so many outlets and channels available, it’s nearly impossible to organize.
But here at MMA Junkie, we’ve got your back.
Each week, we’ll compile all the newly surfaced fights in one spot. Every Monday, expect a feature listing everything you might have missed from the UFC.
Here are the fight announcements that were broken or confirmed by MMA Junkie or officially announced by the promotions from Jan. 8-14.
Former UFC champ Rose Namajunas will attempt to avoid a third consecutive loss when she takes on Amanda Ribas in March.
[autotag]Rose Namajunas[/autotag] will remain at women’s flyweight in hopes of getting back on the winning track.
Namajunas, a former two-time UFC strawweight champ, will take on [autotag]Amanda Ribas[/autotag] in a 125-pound main event at UFC Fight Night on March 23, which is expected to take place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and stream on ESPN+.
Two people with knowledge of the situation confirmed the booking to MMA Junkie following an initial report from MMA HOJE. The people requested anonymity because the promotion has yet to make an official announcement. Both Namajunas(11-6 MMA, 9-5 UFC) and Ribas (12-4 MMA, 7-3 UFC) have signed their bout agreements, the people said.
Namajunas, 31, will attempt to snap a two-fight losing skid. After dropping the 115-pound title to Carla Esparza in one of the most criticized title fights in company history at UFC 274, Namajunas took an extended layoff. She moved up a division for her return but dropped a unanimous decision to Manon Fiorot last September at UFC Fight Night 226.
Looking to hand “Thug Rose” a third consecutive defeat will be Ribas, who continues to bounce around weight classes. The Brazilian is coming of a third-round TKO of Luana Pinheiro at UFC Fight Night 232 in November, and despite claiming she was going to stick around strawweight, she moves back up again for the encounter with Namajunas.
UFC’s Amanda Ribas aims to keep the youth of her city off the streets by providing a place for them to study and learn martial arts.
UFC strawweight [autotag]Amanda Ribas[/autotag] has noble plans for her most recent UFC Performance of the Night bonus.
Ribas (12-4 MMA, 7-3 UFC) recently added to her highlight reel by stopping Luana Pinheiro at UFC Fight Night 232 with a furious flurry of strikes that began with a beautiful wheel kick. The finishing sequence earned her the second $50,000 bonus of her UFC tenure, and she plans to use that money to accelerate a plan to build a local institute for local youth to learn martial arts and stay away from bad influences on the street.
“I think the children that doesn’t have nothing to do, they put this energy into bad things,” Ribas recently told MMA Junkie. “So, this new gym will have MMA fights, jiu jitsu, some games to learn. Some English classes, Portugese classes in the afternoon for them when they don’t have nothing, so they don’t pass the time in the streets.
“I have the project all here in my mind. After school, they come here and do something and put their energy here, and not in the streets.”
Ribas hopes to have construction on the new building which is right across the street from her family’s gym, Academia Ribas Family in Varginha, Minas Gerais, Brazil completed by next year. She hopes to attract children in the area who may not have a positive influence at home, whose parents may be in jail, or no positive adult role models to look up to.
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“For me, I see my Dad, I want to do as my Dad, or as my Mom,” Ribas said. “They don’t have this. So who do they put as the idol in their mind? Like, ‘When I grow up I want to be like this guy.’ The bad guy in the street who sell drugs, who sells something bad.
“I want to put this institute here, this gym here, so they can look at me and say, ‘I want to be as Amanda Ribas, because she is from here, Varginha, she trains here in my neighborhood, and she conquered the world. She buy a gym, she buy a house, she buy everything with a good vibe.’ Even the children that won’t be athletes, if they come here and study or do something to get focus, to get discipline to be a good person in the future.”
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If Amanda Ribas could pick her next opponent, the choice would be former strawweight champ Carla Esparza at UFC 300.
If it were up to [autotag]Amanda Ribas[/autotag], she would be sharing the cage with a former UFC champion next time she competes.
Ribas (12-4 MMA, 7-3 UFC) made a successful return to strawweight in November by stopping Luana Pinheiro. The Brazilian has bounced back and forth between the 115 and 125-pound divisions during her UFC career, but says she feels like a stronger fighter in the lighter weight class.
She wants a top-ranked opponent in her next appearance, even if it’s as high as the No. 1 contender. If Ribas had her choice, it would be against the division’s first title holder.
“If I could pick, it would be Carla Esparza because we talked about that before,” Ribas told MMA Junkie. “… I know I am ambitious now. I’m talking the No. 2 and No .3, but I want someone really good in the rankings. If the UFC gives me another one, I’m here.”
During her most recent post-fight press conference, Ribas told reporters she wanted to be a part of the UFC’s upcoming milestone event UFC 300, but won’t hold out if it means missing other opportunities, especially for a fight in Brazil.
“My last fight in Brazil I did in Brasilia, and it was without audience, and was not so good,” Ribas said. “So, I want to fight in Brazil too if I don’t fight in UFC 300, because I want to feel the ‘Uh vai morrer! Uh vai morrer!'”
Ribas has traded wins and losses over her past six fights, and hasn’t strung together wins since a streak of five was snapped in 2021. Now that she has returned to the division where she feels strongest, Ribas appears ready to take on the toughest competition available as she navigates her way to an opportunity to fight for UFC gold.
“I want someone better ranked than me,” Ribas said. “I’ve shown a lot of good fights. Even when I lose a fight, I put my heart inside the cage. I know it is good fights to watch, so I hope UFC can give me some good opponents, and better ranking than me.”
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With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best fights from November 2023.
With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best fights from November 2023: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s Fight of the Month award for November.
At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting on your choice.
Analysis of the biggest storylines coming out of UFC Fight Night 232, including a big night for Brendan Allen supporters.
What mattered most at UFC Fight Night 232 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas? Here are a few post-fight musings …
