Michelle Waterson Pulls Out of Her Fight Against Amanda Ribas at UFC 257

The UFC is starting off the new year with a stacked PPV card at UFC 257. The event will be headlined by Conor McGregor, who takes on Dustin Poirier. However, the UFC is putting together other fights on the card to give fans a memorable event all across the board. Michelle Waterson vs Amanda Ribas at strawweight was one such fight that was added to the card. 

Waterson and Ribas are ranked #7 and #9 in the division, respectively. Both women are coming off impressive wins in their last fights. Unfortunately, the fight between the two women will not be taking place at UFC 257 and is now canceled. 

Read: Twitter heaps praise on Michelle Waterson as she stuns favorite Angela Hill in a five-round war 

Michelle Waterson vs Amanda Ribas would have been an excellent fight at strawweight 

Recent reports suggest that Michelle Waterson is out of her fight against Amanda Ribas. The reason for ‘The Karate Hottie’ pulling out of her bout against Ribas is not known at this point. It is still unclear as to whether the UFC will reschedule this fight or find a new opponent for Ribas. 

Waterson slumped to back-to-back defeats against the likes of Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Carla Esparza. However, she bounced back impressively against Angela Hill, who she took on in the main event at UFC Fight Night 177. In the process, she won the fight of the night bonus. ‘The Karate Hottie’ would have been looking to build on her recent performance against Ribas. 

Ribas on the other hand joined the UFC in June 2019 with a submission win over Emily Whitmire. She is currently undefeated at 4-0 in the UFC with wins over the likes of Mackenzie Dern and Randa Markos. 

Most recently, she took on Paige VanZant at UFC 251. It took her one round to secure an arm-bar submission to open the main card proceedings at the inaugural Fight Island main card.

A win over a veteran and highly ranked strawweight in Michelle Waterson would have catapulted her into the top of the division and put her in contention for a title shot. MMA fans will be hoping the fight is rescheduled as soon as possible.