UFC Fight Night: Amanda Ribas prepared for ‘five rounds of war’ with 'warrior' Rose Namajunas

Amanda Ribas is “ready for war” in her upcoming bout against Rose Namajunas, as the pair get set to come to blows in the UFC flyweight division this weekend.

Ribas and Namajunas will come together in the Octagon as part of UFC Fight Night’s main event, live on TNT Sports and discovery+.

Ribas is aware of the threat two-time UFC strawweight champion Namajunas can pose, but is ready to go the distance with her “warrior” of an opponent.

“I am prepared to do five rounds of war,” Ribas told TNT Sports.

“Because I know she is a warrior too, so I trained a lot and I expect, literally, a war with her because I’m training a lot on my striking but I haven’t forgotten my jujitsu or my judo because I am originally from that part.

“Against Luana [Pinheiro, last November] I showed my striking and was amazing, I trained my spinning kick a lot and it was not just one month or one year, I was training that spinning kick for years and when that happened in that fight, I was like ‘thank god’.”

“My Dad said to me once, if you want to be a legend you have to beat [the best] and I’m here to do that because I want to be a legend and this is how huge this fight is for me,” Ribas added.

Ribas has switched between the flyweight and strawweight divisions multiple times over the last few years.

The 30-year-old is seeking her second straight win in the flyweight discipline after defeating Pinheiro in November.

“It doesn’t matter a lot,” Ribas said about fighting in multiple divisions.

“It’s good because in flyweight I can eat more, which is awesome! In strawweight, I feel faster and in flyweight, I feel more strong.

“It’s good when I have the opportunity to fight in both divisions because I like to be active, not just at the gym training but at the UFC too.

“I’m doing good, too. I rank in both divisions which is awesome.”

Also speaking to TNT Sports, Namajunas expects Ribas to “bring it” as the American looks to wrap up the flyweight title before the end of the year.

For Ribas, one of her future goals is to fight in her home country, Brazil, with the potential to fight in Rio as part of May’s UFC 301.

“It would be awesome," she said. "I did [fight] once in Brazil, but it was the first event without an audience, it was crazy because we didn’t know if we had a fight or not,” Ribas said.

“I hope one day I can fight in Brazil, it doesn’t matter if it is in my state, Rio or Sao Paulo, but wow, in Brazil it would be really good.

“I will be there [UFC 301] whether I’m fighting or not, because I want to watch too so if the fights go well, maybe. It would be awesome.”

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