Amanda Ribas, a popular UFC strawweight, took a hard loss at UFC Abu Dhabi on July 26, 2025. Tabatha Ricci knocked her out with an elbow, but the defeat led to a major finding. A titanium plate in her face, placed after a 2023 injury, had shifted, causing health problems for over a year. Her father and coach, Marcelo Ribas, spoke to MMA Fighting about the issue.
The Fight and the Revelation
During the fight at Etihad Arena, Ricci landed a sharp elbow near Ribas’ eye in the second round. Ribas collapsed, and the referee halted the bout after follow-up strikes. Later, Ribas shared on Instagram that the elbow dislodged a titanium plate in her face. The plate was inserted in July 2023 after Maycee Barber fractured her orbital bone at UFC on ABC 5. The misplaced plate pressed on a muscle, causing intense pain.
Marcelo Ribas said the plate first shifted during a November 2023 fight against Luana Pinheiro.
“The old plate was dislocated in the Luana Pinheiro fight, and Amanda was experiencing faints, severe pain and even seizures [since],” Marcelo said. “She almost couldn’t train since the Luana fight.” The team didn’t know the plate was the cause until Ricci’s elbow revealed it. Marcelo saw it as a stroke of luck. “And if it wasn’t for the elbow, maybe we wouldn’t have found out. It’s God, brother. Thank God we discovered what was causing the pains, faints and seizures since the Luana fight.”
A Year of Undiagnosed Struggles
Since the Pinheiro fight, Ribas suffered headaches, fainting, and seizures. Tests, including a brain MRI, showed nothing, so doctors thought it might be a mental issue.
“She was doing psychiatric and psychological treatment thinking that was [the problem],” Marcelo said.
Despite these challenges, Ribas fought three times in 2024 and 2025, losing to Rose Namajunas, Mackenzie Dern, and Ricci.
Barber stops Ribas in a bloodbath 🩸
— Lewis Simpson (@LewisSimpsonMMA) June 24, 2023
Ribas is now at Albert Einstein Hospital in Sao Paulo for tests to prepare for surgery. A UFC source indicated the procedure was expected around late July 2025, likely July 28 or shortly after, once swelling went down. Marcelo said the worst is over.
“She’s not in pain anymore,” Marcelo said. “She felt the worst pain in the world on the trigeminal nerve, and the worse is over.”
The focus is on healing, with no hurry to return to training.
Ribas, 31, has a 13-6 MMA record and is 7-6 in the UFC. From Varginha, Brazil, she trained in her father’s gym, earning black belts in jiu-jitsu and judo. She won amateur MMA and jiu-jitsu titles before turning pro in 2014. Her UFC debut in 2019 saw her beat Emily Whitmire, and she went 6-2 in her first eight UFC bouts, winning fans with her fun style and bright smile. In June 2023, Barber’s strikes broke her orbital bone, requiring a plate.
Ribas returned to stop Pinheiro in 2023, but the shifted plate caused ongoing problems. Earlier knee surgeries ended her Olympic judo dreams, yet she kept fighting. In 2024, she commentated a UFC event in Sao Paulo and playfully grappled a 250-pound bodybuilder, showing her spirit.
