Amanda Ribas earned a big win over Randa Markos at UFC Brasilia.
Canada’s Randa Markos was set to face Brazil’s own Amanda Ribas Saturday at UFC Brasilia — a rather intriguing strawweight pairing that had been flying under the radar.
Markos has been with the UFC since the inception of the 115lb women’s weight class back in 2014. She competed on The Ultimate Fighter 20, which crowned the division’s inaugural champion. Ever since the ‘Quiet Storm’ has been active — but through 13 fights, she had never claimed consecutive wins. With an overall record of 6-6-1, she was looking to change that Saturday.
Amanda Ribas was the local favorite and for good reason. After a two-year delay in her octagon debut thanks to a speed bump labeled USADA (a tainted supplement saw her banished, only for the sanction to later be dropped), Ribas had her coming out party in 2019 — defeating Emily Whitmire and, more impressively, the super-hyped Mackenzie Dern.
Ribas was supposed to fight Paige VanZant at UFC Brasilia, but that bout fell by the wayside due to PVZ’s recurring arm injury, which has required multiple surgeries.
Markos started the fight off with immediate pressure, and Ribas opened up with some shots of her own. Markos seemed to slip and Ribas jumped on top and looked to do damage from the there. Markos would slip out from the bottom and Ribas would land some ruthless knees in the clinch. Markos lands a nice right hand, and Ribas countered with a spinning back kick and a takedown. Ribas started landing some nasty elbows from the top that were doing damage. Markos was able to get up but ate a giant knee to end the round.
Markos looked to open up round two with pressure once again however after eating some shots she backed off, and Ribas gave chase. Ribas landed a nice 1-2 up against the fence that landed clean and followed up with a leg kick. Ribas got the fight into the clinch and started landing some hard knees. They separated and Ribas landed a hard right hand on the break, then went back into the clinch. Ribas and Markos traded knees, and would soon separate. The round would come to a close after big combination by Ribas.
DOMINANT. 👏
🇧🇷 @AmandaRibasUFC is more than just a prospect to watch! #UFCBrasilia pic.twitter.com/mFJttWzJyM
— UFC (@ufc) March 14, 2020
Ribas opened up the third with some pressure, and Markos went in for the takedown. However, Ribas countered with an armbar that Markos was able to get out of. Markos rolled for a leg lock of her own that Ribas slipped out of it as the blood was pouring from both fighters. Ribas looked for a kimura on the top, but Markos slipped out. Ribas began looking for an arm triangle from the top but couldn’t get it once again. Ribas would end the fight on top throwing some big elbows, securing her victory.
Official Result: Amanda Ribas def. Randa Markos via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-25, 30-25)
