UFC Vegas 89 returned to UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada, this past weekend (Sat., March 23, 2024), leaving several fighters feeling the post-fight blues. Among them was A.J. Dobson, who was knocked out by Edmen Shahbazyan in the first round (see it again here). And Cameron Saaiman, who suffered a technical knockout loss at the hands of Payton Talbott (video here). But, which fighter is suffering from the worst post-fight hangover, now a few days removed from the show?
Since 2020, the Brazilian Flyweight has been alternating wins and losses, racking up a record of 4-3 prior to her headlining bout against Namajunas. She was coming off an incredible highlight-reel knockouc win over Luana Pinheiro (watch it), but staying true to her pattern, things didn’t go well for her against “Thug.”
After 25 minutes of action, Ribas came up short on the judges scorecards, losing a unanimous decision to bring her to 4-4 in her past eight fights. It’s not that Ribas fought horribly because, well, she didn’t. She actually put up a good fight and had some shining moments. But, when facing a former champion, you have to be on your “A” game.
Ribas did show a lot of promise by starting off her UFC career with four straight, including derailing Mackenzie Dern’s hype train and sending Paige VanZant packing from the UFC ranks. Unfortunately for her, she just can’t seem to win the big one when it matters to get her over the hump.
And here’s the thing: winning one, then losing, then winning again simply won’t get her anywhere. Furthermore, this bouncing around from weight class to weight class isn’t going to cut it, either. She’s fluctuated from Strawweight to Flyweight four times since 2020, adding to her inconsistent patterns.
At the end of the day, Ribas — who oddly enough is ranked at No. 8 in both divisions — is going to have to pick a division and stick with it for a while to get a groove going. If she doesn’t she can expect the same results moving forward.
If she does decide to stay at Flyweight, she will probably look to fight someone like Casey O’Neill next. Like Ribas, O’Neill kicked off her UFC career with four straight wins, but then hit a roadblock and has now dropped her last two fights to Jennifer Maia and Ariane Lipski.
O’Neill is ranked No. 13 at the moment, and Ribas can expect to drop out of the Top 10. Both ladies will be fighting with extra pressure to secure a win, so it could bring out the best of them should this bout come to fruition.
For complete UFC Vegas 89 results, coverage and highlights, click HERE.