Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Amanda Ribas vs Emily Whitmire

Here's the match video of Amanda Ribas vs Emily Whitmire from last night's UFC show in Minneapolis. Emily trains at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas. She was in TUF 26. She is 2-0 since dropping to Sttawweight. Amanda is from Brazil. She was supposed to debut in 2017 but tested positive for a banned substance which turned out to be a tainted supplement. Her father Marcelo Ribas has been training her since she was a child. When her coach Marcos Di Matta moved to American Top Team in Florida, they came with him. Her dad was in her corner. She's a black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu so Amanda will want to go to the ground. I didn't think Emily's striking would be good enough to hold her off. For most of the first round, Amanda got Emily's back and she attempted to get a standing choke. She had a good bodylock so Emily couldn't get rid of her. They finally went down to the mat. Emily was able to reverse but did nothing. I scored the round 10-9 for Amanda. Between rounds, Emily's corner told her to keep the fight standing. But Amanda immediately went for the clinch and then the takedown. Some ground and pound gave Amanda Emily's back and that led to a rear naked choke and the finish. So I thought Amanda looked great. Obviously she has elite ground skills. She also has charisma and a sense of humor. In her post match interview she says she has a black belt in BJJ and a white belt in English. Her manager Alex Davis was there but she didn't him to translate. Later on Amanda said she would like to fight on her mother's birthday Oct. 18. Certainly I liked what I saw from Amanda but I'd like to see how she does against a decent striker like maybe Yan Xiaonan or possibly Cortney Casey. The UFC might want Yan for the China show in August and Felice Herrig is out with a knee injury. Cortney is in the top 15. Enjoy the video!