Ribas’ father gets tattoo of her first UFC win

David Berding-USA TODAY Sports

Marcelo Ribas now has an image of his daughter choking Emily Whitmire emblazoned on his arm.

Amanda Ribas bounced up to 8th in the UFC strawweight rankings on the back of her impressive win over former UFC headliner Paige VanZant at UFC 251 last July. The Brazilian tapped VanZant with an armbar to earn her fourth win inside the Octagon and improve her overall record to 10-1.

The 27-year-old got her start in the UFC in 2019. Though, she was signed by the promotion in 2017, but had to serve a length competition ban thanks to a failed USADA test for Ostarine. Her suspension was cut short after USADA determined that the Ostarine found its way into Ribas’ system through a tainted dietary supplement.

With her name cleared, Ribas was booked opposite Emily Whitmire on UFC on ESPN 3. Ribas won the fight via a second round rear naked choke. After that she beat Mackenzie Dern and Randa Markos to set-up her bout with VanZant.

Of all her victories Ribas’ father, Marcelo Ribas, considers her UFC debut over Whitmire to be the most special. So much so that he decided to wear that moment on his sleeve.

Marcelo Ribas / MMA Fighting

MMA Fighting spoke with Marcelo Ribas about his decision to get the tattoo.

“This tattoo is very important for me,” he said. “It was my biggest accomplishment professionally speaking because I almost had three shots at having someone in the UFC and it never worked, and all of a sudden Amanda got in.

“Her first fight was two years after that doping case and everything we went through, it was very important, so I decided to ‘eternalize’ that victory on my arm — the night she showed the world who she was.”

Along with the photo-realistic image of his daughter defeating Whitmire, Ribas also had a UFC belt inked on his arm. Amanda Ribas told MMA Fighting that her goal was to add two physical belts to add to the one on her dad’s skin.

“Everybody knows we’re going after two belts, the strawweight and flyweight titles,” she said. “The first goal is the strawweight belt.”

Ribas is scheduled to fight Marina Rodriguez at UFC 257 on January 23.