Heading into UFC Vegas 115, Tabatha Ricci was on the verge of a title shot. She was booked in the co-main event against Virna Jandiroba, who was fresh off a shot at the belt herself. After coming up short in that fight, Ricci was eager to get back in there to start climbing the ladder again.
Her chance came quickly. Just a couple months removed from that contest, she was asked if she wanted to step in against Fatima Kline after her original opponent, Amanda Ribas fell out. The spot seemed as good as any for Ricci.
“Yeah it was a little rushed. Of course I was already in shape. I had a really hard camp with Virna. It wasn’t that long ago, the fight,” Ricci said. “So I was in shape and then I want to fight. I got the offer – like of course anybody anytime. I just want to get back to the octagon as soon as possible. Then, actually, I had to move a lot of things around and then get together with the team quick – I think it was perfect.”
In fact, she prefers that a camp be short everytime. While longer camps are more traditional, she feels the mental grind of those can take some of the joy away from fighting.
“You know sometimes when you have a long camp you’re like thinking of the fight like for so long,” she said. “Sometimes it gets boring, it’s hard. When you have a short camp, it’s just like right away – specific tuning, hard sparring. It’s actually pretty fun.”
Now with the hard work done, she’s ready to prove herself in the cage once again. And she’s not planning on just beating the prospect, but she’s planning on making a statement.
“She probably wants to try to keep the distance. I mean if she watches other fights too and then she’s probably expecting me to grapple her. I think who does their thing best is going to win the fight,” Ricci said. “I really want to get the finish against her and get my way back to being next for the title shot.”
You can catch her bout with Fatima Kline as part of the UFC Oklahoma City main card. The fight card begins at 5pm EST and airs on Paramount+.
