Las Vegas, NV — Given she’s always upbeat, there was no surprise that UFC 285 winner Amanda Ribas was in good spirits following her victory against Viviane Araujo on Saturday.
What was surprising was Ribas landing a knockdown on her fellow Brazilian, despite the going theory that Ribas’ path to victory was on the ground. Ultimately, she came away with a unanimous decision, but held her own on the feet even with her unorthodox style.
After the fight, Ribas (12-3) took to the mic to make a couple of callouts, and told media outlets including Cageside Press back stage that fighters need to take advantage of those opportunities when they arise.
“For a fighter, we need to take advantage of this. So when I took the microphone, I was a little ambitious, but I think I deserve it, because my last fight was against Katlyn [Chookagian], and she was number two at the time,” Ribas stated.
“So now, in flyweight, I ask for maybe [up] until number five, and in strawweight, if the UFC thinks I deserve [it], maybe Carla [Esparza] or somebody good, [with] a good ranking. Because there is a fight that we scheduled, but didn’t happen. So I’m here!”
Ribas was given a thirty day medical suspension following the fight, however, so there will be at least a little pause before her return. In the meantime, she plans to continue juggling weight classes, moving between strawweight and flyweight.
“In strawweight, I am number nine. So I think I need to go more, because I want to fight for the belt,” said Ribas. “In flyweight, I was number 15, but they cut me off of this. So I hope I can get more ranking in flyweight, and take the opportunity to fight in strawweight too.”
Watch the full UFC 285 post-fight press conference with Amanda Ribas above.
