This past Saturday on the main card of UFC Vegas 54, we saw a big time matchup in the women’s flyweight division. Consensus number one contender Katlyn “Blonde Fighter” Chookagian (18-4) was taking on the popular strawweight contender Amanda Ribas (11-3).
Ribas was moving up in weight and she was going right in against the top contender. Heading into UFC Vegas 54, I really liked Katlyn Chookagian to pick up the win. Not because I didn’t like the skillset of Ribas, but Chookagian has proven over and over again how good she is.
Will her performances leave you begging for more? Probably not, but she’s incredibly effective and she always seems to get her hand raised outside of taking on the best of the best. However, the fight didn’t start well for her at UFC Vegas 54.
In the first round, Ribas was able to use her judo to take Chookagian down. With the amount of control she had, I felt comfortable giving the first round to Ribas. In the second round, Ribas was able to land a takedown as well. However, this round had a lot of striking.
Chookagian was able to piece up Ribas on the feet and Ribas did nothing with her takedowns. The third round saw a more even standup battle and Ribas did land a takedown. However, Chookagian still looked to land the bigger shots. In the end, by split decision, Katlyn Chookagian got the win at UFC Vegas 54.
What’s next after UFC Vegas 54?
Once again, Katlyn Chookagian was able to show why she’s the top contender in the UFC’s flyweight division. No, she didn’t run through Amanda Ribas. But, she did what she had to do and ended up winning a decision. Another win in the win column is what she wanted and it’s what she got.
This latest win makes it four in a row for Katlyn Chookagian. Blonde Fighter is 5-1 since her UFC title shot with the lone loss coming against former strawweight champion Jessica Andrade. After this latest win, Chookagian might have setup her next fight.
I think that she even recognizes that she will need one more win before getting a second crack at UFC gold. With that in mind, she called out Manon Fiorot. Fiorot is currently ranked sixth in the division and she’s unbeaten in the UFC.
After losing her professional MMA debut by split decision, Fiorot is a perfect 9-0. Inside the octagon, she’s 4-0 with two stoppages. This is an excellent callout for Chookagian and if she’s able to beat Fiorot, I don’t see how you could deny her of another shot at the title.