Stake.com ambassador Amanda Ribas headlines the UFC‘s March 23, 2024 Fight Night event at the UFC Apex opposite Rose Namajunas, fresh off earning her degree in Physical Education.
Ribas (13-4) has been working towards her degree since 2015, having switched from Physical Therapy to Nutrition to Physical Education in the end, all while juggling a fighting career that took her to the highest levels of the sport.
It’s something she could see going into when all is said and done, but studying Physical Education also has real-world applications for her fighting career.
“I can understand more about my training, and I can help others when I have not just what I do in my training, but what I studied to do,” Ribas told Cageside Press in a recent exclusive interview. “What science says is the best. It helps me a lot.”
In “Thug” Rose Namajunas, Amanda Ribas has drawn a former champ, and the Brazilian was quite concise of her assessment of the match-up.
“For me, Rose is a legend. My dad said to me one time, if you want to be a legend, you need to win [against] one. And Rose is a legend, she’s really good, and I’ve prepared to fight against the best version of Rose Namajunas.”
With the fight taking place at 125lbs — Namajunas is a former strawweight champ, while Ribas has juggled divisions — she expects a slightly different “Thug” Rose. “For myself, I feel myself at strawweight is more fast, and at flyweight, more strong. So maybe Rose will be not too fast, as she’s been at strawweight, maybe. Because it is more weight.”
We also got Ribas’ thoughts on the upcoming UFC 300 title fight between Weili Zhang and fellow Chinese star Yan Xiaonan.
“Co-main event, love this! And I’d like if it was main event because I know there’ll be fire inside the cage too, because they both are really good. And I think they’ll decide who will be the Queen of China, so it will be awesome to watch.” As for her pick, Ribas is siding with the champ. “I think Weili.”
Watch our full interview with UFC on ESPN 53’s Amanda Ribas above.
