At UFC 257, one of the rising stars of the promotion will make the walk for the fifth time. Kicking off the PPV main card tomorrow night, rising star, Amanda Ribas (10-1), will be taking on fellow Brazilian, Marina Rodriguez (12-1-2).
Amanda Ribas has star written all over her and the UFC knows it. Ribas has an extremely vibrant personality and she seems to captivate the attention of everyone. Not too mention the fact that she’s unbeaten in the UFC.
The rising strawweight contender made her debut with the promotion just about a year and a half ago. Since then, Ribas has gone 4-0 in the UFC with wins over Mackenzie Dern, Randa Markos, and Paige VanZant.
Originally, Ribas was supposed to take on Michelle Waterson at UFC 257. However, Waterson had to pull out of the fight and in stepped the top ten contender, Marina Rodriguez.
Rodriguez suffered her first career loss in her last fight that came during the UFC‘s first trip to Fight Island. She took on former strawweight champion, Carla Esparza, and Esparza was able to walk away with a split decision.
Rodriguez earned herself a UFC contract on Dana White’s Contender series back in 2018 when she scored a first round knockout. Since the, she’s 2-1-2 in five fights with the promotion. The highlight of her tenure was a win over Tecia Torres.
UFC 257 Prediction
Based on their past performances and looking at their skillsets, I can see a path to victory for both of these ladies at UFC 257. For Ribas, she’s going to have to keep this fight in close quarters.
She would be best served to try and force this fight to take place on the ground or in the clinch. In those two positions, I think she has a massive advantage over Marina Rodriguez. However, I’m not sure she’d have a pure striking advantage.
For Rodriguez, she’s going to need to keep this fight at range. If this is purely a striking match from distance at UFC 257, I think that Rodriguez could pickup the win and derail the Ribas hype train.
That said, I really like Amanda Ribas in this matchup. I believe she’s going to be able to force her way on the inside and I think this fight will touch the mat. Once it does, I think Ribas will be in full control. I’m going out on a limb and I’ll say she picks up a submission tomorrow night.
Prediction: Amanda Ribas by Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) – Round 2