Amanda Ribas vs. Maycee Barber: UFC Fight Night Odds, Prediction
Saturday’s Fight Night co-main event comes from the women’s flyweight division as No. 9 ranked contender Amanda Ribas faces No. 11 Maycee Barber at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida.
Ribas is a -230 favourite to win on the UFC odds, while Barber sits as a +170 underdog.
Amanda Ribas UFC Fight Night Odds
Ribas splits her time between the flyweight division and the strawweight division, ranking as the No. 11 contender in the latter. She has fought professionally since 2014, compiling a 12-3 overall record. The 29-year-old Brazilian is 6-2 since her UFC debut in 2019.
Ribas has proven to be capable of winning in just about any way. She has five career wins via decision, four via submission and three via knockout. Well known fighters that have fallen victim to Ribas include the likes of Paige VanZant and Mackenzie Dern.
It’s been a little shaky for Ribas over the last couple of years. She’s alternated wins and losses across her last four fights, including a split decision defeat against Katlyn Chookagian that earned Fight of the Night honours. Ribas last fought at UFC 285 in March, earning a unanimous decision win against Viviane Araujo.
Ribas holds a one-inch reach advantage in this fight. In her UFC career, she is averaging 4.8 significant strikes landed per minute with 42 per cent accuracy. She is also averaging 2.16 takedowns per 15 minutes with 52 per cent accuracy and 88 per cent takedown defence.
Ribas is one of the more dynamic fighters in the flyweight and strawweight divisions. She’s an opportune striker who isn’t afraid to be patient and wait for her opponent to make a mistake. Ribas’ strategy could very well be to simply play the waiting game and strike when the moment presents itself.
Maycee Barber UFC Fight Night Odds
At just 25-years-old, Barber is 12-2 since her professional MMA debut in 2017. The Colorado native joined the UFC in 2018 and has gone 7-2 in the Octagon.
Barber has proven she can hang around as long as needed, with her last six fights going to decision. Overall, she has five career wins by decision, five by knockout and two by submission. Her only two losses were back-to-back unanimous decisions against Roxanne Modafferi at UFC 246 in January 2020 and Alexa Grasso at UFC 258 in February 2021. Grasso is the current UFC women’s flyweight champion.
Barber is riding a four-fight winning streak, dispatching Miranda Maverick, Montana De La Rosa, Jessica Eye and Andrea Lee. The victory against Lee was a close split decision in March.
“The Future” has a one-inch leg reach advantage in this fight. She averages 4.27 significant strikes per minute with 51 per cent accuracy. She’s not as strong of grappler as her opponent, averaging 1.23 takedowns per 15 minutes with 37 per cent accuracy and 47 per cent takedown defence.
Barber is one of the more powerful strikers in the division, possessing legitimate knockout power. She’s also very aggressive, so you can likely bank on her dictating the pace of the fight from the start as she tries to keep things standing up and away from the ground.
UFC Fight Night Prediction: Who Will Win Amanda Ribas vs. Maycee Barber?
Ribas has struggled to deliver consistent results over the last couple of years while Barber has done nothing but win in that time. Still, Barber’s results could be deceptive. Two of her last four victories were by split decision and she hasn’t finished a fighter since 2019. Take the veteran Ribas to win by decision.