Daniel Cunningham
This past Saturday in the co-main event of UFC Vegas 115, we saw a matchup between two top ten strawweights. Former title challenger Virna Jandiroba (23-4) was looking to bounce back and preserve her spot in the top five as she took on fellow Brazilian Tabatha Ricci (12-4).
Tabatha Ricci entered the octagon on Saturday night 7-3 in her last ten, but I was a little shocked that she was a betting favorite on some of the sportsbooks. Her competition level wasn’t as high as Jandiroba and I was really struggling to see where she had a big advantage.
Ricci has a lot of success whenever she can use forward pressure and her grappling. She also strikes with pressure to score points but I figured she’d really struggle with the strong wrestling of Jandiroba. She was not the better grappler and Jandiroba was a much better wrestler.
That turned out to be a big problem for her at UFC Vegas 115. Ricci just had no real answer for the takedowns and she found herself in a clear 20-18 hole after two rounds. She fought really well in the final round with her striking but she again was taken down by Jandiroba late in the round which sealed her fate.
What’s next after UFC Vegas 115?
Tabatha Ricci entered the octagon on Saturday night ranked 7th in the division taking on the 3rd ranked contender. I don’t see her losing any ground because she lost a decision to someone in the top five at strawweight. Taking out her octagon debut which was against Manon Fiorot at flyweight, Ricci is now 7-3 at strawweight.
That said, she’s also just 3-3 in her last six fights after winning her first four. She’s shown some improvements but she’s stalled out a bit and really needs to show something in her next UFC bout. In terms of her next opponent, I think the promotion could look at fellow Brazilian Amanda Lemos.
Lemos is currently ranked just one spot behind Ricci at 8th. Lemos has lost two in a row but those fights came against Tatiana Suarez and Gillian Robertson. This could be a good fight for both ladies with the winner showing that they’re ready to start climbing the ranks again.
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