Tabatha Ricci has settled into her career and now has a shot at another big stage win.
After beginning her UFC career with a loss in a short fight that wasn’t in her weight class, Richie bounced back in a big way.
“The Baby Shark” won three times in a row by declaring a unanimous decision victory over María Oliveira and Poliana Viana and in her last fight she achieved her best performance at UFC 285.
Fighting on the big stage with Jon Jones heading the card, Richie delivered former title challenger Jessica Bean to not only pick up her third UFC win, but she also became a ranked fighter in the UFC with this win as she now sits at #15 in the official UFC strawweight rankings.
With all that success comes greater opportunities and that’s what happens next for Richie when she takes on Jillian Robertson this weekend at UFC on ABC 5.
Robertson has fought in her career at flyweight and in the UFC, battling first with Kaitlin Chokajian for wins (13) in the division with 125 wins. Her seven UFC finishes are also the most of any fighter in the flyweight division.
After a stellar flyweight run, Robertson made the decision to move up from strawweight for her final fight and picked up another win over fellow Ricci Piera Rodriguez.
Now Richie, he gets a chance to share the octagon with Robertson in a fight in which the winner will make an opening look at the rest of the division.
Before the fight, Richie spoke with MyMMANews about the big match with Robertson, being ranked in the UFC, her thoughts on some of the upcoming women’s fights and the retirement of Brazilian fighter and fellow UFC champion Amanda Nunes.
You can watch her full interview at video above.