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Amanda Ribas’ path to the 115-pound title race hit a serious roadblock on Saturday at UFC 257 in Abu Dhabi. Despite coming in as a big favorite in this a la carte main card fight between the top 10 female straws, Ribas (10-2) suffered her first loss in five UFC appearances when she was stopped via TKO in the second round by his Brazilian compatriot Marina Rodriguez (13-1-2).
Ribas entered the fight with a lot of hype and momentum thanks to her first-round stoppage of Paige VanZant at flyweight last July. Ribas, 27, a fighter widely loved due to her cheerful personality, saw the tide turn quickly after controlling the first round on the pitch.
Rodriguez, 33, grabbed Ribas with a straight chin cross that let her fall awkwardly. Ribas continued to eat punches as Rodriguez threw a series of right hands to the ground as referee Herb Dean looked set to stop him.
But as Dean hovered, Rodriguez stood up and started celebrating prematurely before Dean stopped the fight. Rodriguez briefly turned his back on the action before realizing what happened. She ran through the cage to deliver a melee standing on a still injured Ribas.
“I saw that I was finishing the fight, she wasn’t moving and the referee walked in with open arms and then I walked away,” Rodriguez said after the fight. “I didn’t have to hit it anymore, but when I looked around there were different screams in the crowd, no one came in so I had to go back and finish it again.
“I knew I had to hit her more in the second round and when I landed a few punches I saw that she was shaking and she was really feeling it, so I knew that was what I was doing. had to do to finish. “
A short elbow and a pair of color right hands followed by Rodriguez forced Dean to stop the fight at 54 seconds while the two were still standing.
“Guys, now you know who I am!” said an excited Rodriguez.
Not only was Rodriguez a +260 betting underdog, the odds were +1200 that she would score a KO. She has improved to 4-1-1 since making her UFC debut in 2018, just after a TKO victory in the “Dana White Contender Series”.
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