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Amanda Ribas to undergo facial surgery after Tabatha Ricci elbow displaced metal plate at UFC Abu Dhabi: ‘That scared me’

Tyler Durden 2025.07.27 2 min read

Amanda Ribas | Photo via Amanda Ribas’ Instagram page

Amanda Ribas will have to go under the knife after her UFC Abu Dhabi loss to Tabatha Ricci on Saturday, and that’s courtesy of a brutal elbow strike.

Ribas went down in round two after eating an elbow in the clinch, and the referee stopped the bout after a few more shots were thrown on July 26. Ribas revealed hours later that the elbow displaced the metal plate she inserted in the area in July 2023, after losing to Maycee Barber.

“I’ll have to have surgery over the other surgery I had before,” Ribas wrote on Instagram stories. “I think the plate was a bit loose. Those who were with me know I was constantly training with headaches, and I thought it was nothing. It appears that with the impact of the strike, the plate moved and got the muscle out of position, and it’s pressing I don’t know what.

“That scared me because each doctor would come and say something different in a language I don’t know, and I was in so much pain I couldn’t even speak Portuguese properly. But the hospital is very fancy, everything is perfect, and I have no pain now. I’ll have surgery soon.”

In good spirits, Ribas provided an update an hour later, revealing she would have to wait for the swelling to go off before having the procedure done. A person with knowledge of the promotion’s plans confirmed to MMA Fighting Ribas’ surgery is expected to take place on Monday.

Ribas has now lost three in a row in the UFC, finished by strawweights Mackenzie Dern and Ricci after a flyweight decision loss to Rose Namajunas. Her UFC record is now down to 7-6, being 1-3 since the first orbital bone fracture suffered against Barber.

Amanda Ribas to undergo facial surgery after Tabatha Ricci elbow displaced metal plate at UFC Abu Dhabi: ‘That scared me’

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