At UFC Abu Dhabi, Amanda Ribas suffered a round-two KO defeat and had to undergo another surgery to fix her orbital fracture. She sustained the injury at UFC on ABC 5, when Maycee Barber defeated her via second-round ground and pound. The canvas was bloodied, and Ribas broke her orbital bone. She had a titanium plate implanted to stabilize her eye socket. But at UFC Abu Dhabi, Tabatha Ricci landed an elbow right on top of the titanium plate and dislodged it. But what if we told you that Ribas’ implant was showing problems even before the fight with Ricci? Marcelo Ribas, the Brazilian strawweight’s father and coach, confirmed it as he made a scary revelation regarding Ribas’ health.
Following the events of UFC Abu Dhabi, Ribas took to Instagram and revealed that she already suspected that the plate was a bit loose. She stated, “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.”
But according to Ribas Sr., the titanium plate was already dislocated in the Brazilian’s fight against Luana Pinheiro. He said, “The old plate was dislocated in the Luana Pinheiro fight, and Amanda was experiencing faints, severe pain and even seizures. She almost couldn’t train since the Luana fight.” Ribas tried to identify the reason behind her constant headaches multiple times. The doctors did an MRI and other tests, only to rule out the implant as the problem. But Ricci’s elbow strike helped Ribas and her father discover the reason behind her headaches and seizures.
Ribas’ coach continued, “[Amanda] was doing psychiatric and psychological treatment thinking that was [the problem]. And if it wasn’t for the elbow, maybe we wouldn’t have found out. It’s God, brother. Thank God we discovered what was causing the pains, faints, and seizures since the Luana fight.” Giving the final update on his daughter’s health, Marcelo Ribas stated, “She’s not in pain anymore. She felt the worst pain in the world on the trigeminal nerve, and the worse is over.”
Ribas’s father also stated that doctors are currently running tests at the Albert Einstein Hospital in São Paulo. Meanwhile, Ricci expressed her worries for her former opponent. Let’s see what ‘Baby Shark’ had to say.
Tabatha Ricci expressed her concerns over Amanda Ribas’ injury
During a recent conversation with MMA Fighting, Tabatha Ricci confessed, “I was worried about Amanda, what happened to her eye, but I know she’s fine now and will do the surgery in Brazil. I’m glad that she will have a good recovery and will be well treated.” Ricci admitted that she didn’t really know Ribas had a serious fracture in her face. When she landed an elbow in the second round, she didn’t realize it hit Ribas in the eye. After all, Ricci connected a blind hit because her opponent trapped her head under their chin.
And when Ribas went down, covering her face, ‘Baby Shark’ relentlessly threw a barrage of strong left hands toward her downed opponent’s face. Ricci continued, “Amanda is an athlete that knows how to win and lose, she’s a very nice person. I love her. … This sport is very dangerous, that could have been the other way around. It’s always a risk in there, right?”
Now that doctors have fixed Ribas’ implant, she can expect to be free of seizures and persistent headaches. She can now train without any worries. But first, she needs to receive the green flag from her medical team. Till then, we have to wait and watch her story unfold.
The post Amanda Ribas Medical Update After “Pains, Faints, Seizures” and Scary KO Loss at UFC Abu Dhabi appeared first on EssentiallySports.
