Amanda Ribas’ father is glad his daughter took an elbow to the eye socket from Tabitha Ricci at UFC Abu Dhabi last weekend (Sat., July 26, 2025) that led to a technical knockout loss (re-watch the vicious finish here).
That’s because it also led to a titanium plate above her eye breaking, which led to doctors realizing it was the cause of several health-related problems Ribas has been suffering through for years.
Marcelo Ribas — both Amanda’s father and coach — discussed the tough loss to Ricci on “Fight Island” with MMA Fighting’s Guilherme Cruz. And he revealed Ribas hasn’t been the same since a titanium plate installed following an orbital bone break in June 2023 got knocked askew five months later when Ribas fought Luana Pinheiro.
“The old plate was dislocated in the Luana Pinheiro fight,” her father said. “And Amanda was experiencing faints, severe pain and even seizures [since]. She almost couldn’t train since the Luana fight.
“[Amanda] was doing psychiatric and psychological treatment thinking that was [the problem],” he added. “And if it wasn’t for the elbow [from Ricci], maybe we wouldn’t have found out.
“It’s God, brother,” he finished. “Thank God we discovered what was causing the pains, faints and seizures since the Luana fight.”
Ribas came into UFC with a lot of hype in back in 2016 and went 6-2 over her first eight appearance before Maycee Barber broke her eye socket (re-watch that here). Since then, she’s been 1-3 and apparently struggling to just get into the cage and compete.
Let’s hope this health revelation turns things around for her … eventually, when she comes back from fixing her orbital properly.
Fighter safety first.
For complete UFC Abu Dhabi results, coverage and highlights click HERE.
