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A high-profile women’s strawweight bout is in the works for December.
Two fighters on long winning streaks are set to face off for what could end up being a 115-pound title shot. According to MMA Fighting, UFC 256 will likely play host to a straweight bout between former champ Carla Esparza and Amanda Ribas.
While the bout isn’t official yet, both fighters have made verbal agreements to compete on the December 12th card.
Esparza (17-6, 8-4 UFC), the inaugural strawweight champ, has won four fights in a row with the last coming over Marina Rodriguez in July. She currently sits at number seven in the 115-round rankings.
Ribas (10-1, 4-0 UFC) is coming off the most impressive win of her career, stopping Paige VanZant via submission in the first round of their July bout. The PVZ bout came at flyweight. Ribas is the 12th-ranked challenger at strawweight right now.
UFC 256 doesn’t have a set location as of yet, but will go down December 12th. The card will apparently be topped by two title fights – Kamaru Usman defending his welterweight title against Gilbert Burns, and Amanda Nunes defending her women’s featherweight belt against former Invicta champ Megan Anderson.