Amanda Ribas and Maycee Barber fight Saturday in UFC on ABC 5 at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena. Ribas enters this fight with a 11-3 record and has won 45 percent of her fights by decision. Barber enters this fight with a 12-2 record and has won 42 percent of her fights by knockout.
Amanda Ribas Betting Preview
Ribas has won 7 of her last 9 fights and is coming off a March win over Viviane Araújo. Ribas is averaging 4.80 significant strikes per minute, with an accuracy percentage of 42 percent. Ribas is averaging 2.16 takedowns with an accuracy percentage of 52 percent. Ribas is coming off a decision win at UFC 285 where she landed 205 total strikes and produced 2 takedowns. Ribas is now 6-2 under the UFC banner and has won 5 of her 6 career decisions. Ribas is a black belt in both BJJ and Judo, and she’s been highly successful with her takedown attempts. Ribas wants to grapple and her technique on the canvas is high quality. Ribas is also aggressive on the feet and does have 3 career knockouts. Ribas has never been submitted in her career. This will be Ribas’ second career fight in Florida.
Maycee Barber Betting Preview
Barber has won each of her last 4 fights and is coming off a March win over Andrea Lee. Barber is averaging 4.27 significant strikes per minute, with an accuracy percentage of 51 percent. Barber is averaging 1.23 takedowns with an accuracy percentage of 37 percent. Barber is coming off a decision win at UFC on ESPN 43 where she landed 66 total strikes and produced 2 takedowns. Barber hasn’t lost since UFC 258, and she’s 8-2 under the UFC banner overall. Barber is a young fighter at 25 years old who comes from a karate background and does some of her best work on her feet. A purple belt in BJJ and black belt in karate, Barber has 5 knockouts, and she puts a lot into her strikes, mixing in punches, elbows and knees well. Barber is a stocky, powerful fighter who swings with intention and is a hell of an athlete. Barber also has some ground ability, and her first pro fight was actually a first round armbar. There’s true potential with Barber, and a win here gets her that much closer to her goals. This will be Barber’s first career fight in Florida.
H2H History
There’s no fight history between these 2 fighters.
Randy’s Free Pick
This has potential to be the best fight on the card and there should be some fireworks. Barber and the plus money is worth a look when you consider she’ll probably have the edge on the feet and could land something that tilts the fight in her favor. However, Ribas is just too solid on the ground, and she could dominate if she gets the fight where she wants it. Ribas also has the physicality to match Barber and keep up if this thing goes the distance.
I’ll lay the juice with Ribas.