Amanda Ribas was set to face Michelle Waterson at UFC 257. Ribas ranked #9 in the UFC strawweight rankings, will now take on #8 ranked Marina Rodriguez. The Brazilian recently recorded a first-round submission win over Paige Van Zant to cement herself as one of the promotion’s rising stars.

Waterson ranked #7 would have provided a major step up in competition for Ribas. However, ‘The Karate Hottie’ had to pull out of the fight for undisclosed reasons. As reported by MMA Fighting, Ribas and fellow Brazilian strawweight Marina Rodriguez will meet each other in the octagon on January 23.

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

Opponent change for Amanda Ribas

Ribas is 10-1 in her career and has fought twice in 2020. She recorded wins over Randa Markos and Paige VanZant. The strawweight contender was looking to face ranked #4, Carla Esparza, in December, but the fight ultimately never got booked. Subsequently, she agreed to fight Waterson in January, but the former Invicta FC champion withdrew.

Marina Rodriguez who is 12-1-2 in her career will look to get back to winning ways. Since joining the UFC from the Dana White‘s Contender Series, Rodriguez has a 2-2-1 UFC record. Her last octagon appearance was in July, where she lost a split decision to ex-UFC titleholder Carla Esparza. She also holds decision wins over Tecia Torres and Jessica Aguilar between two majority draws with Randa Markos and Cynthia Calvillo.

Both Brazilians are looking to move up the rankings and challenge current strawweight queen, Weili Zhang. Ribas remains undefeated in her four-fight UFC career and will be looking to make it five in five.

Conor McGregor vs Dustin Poirier at UFC 257

Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier will headline the aforementioned card in what will be a rematch nearly six years in the making. The Notorious one came out on top with the finish. Now at lightweight and a lot of experience behind each fighter, it will intrigue fans to see if the result stays the same.

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UFC 257 is rumored to be at Fight Island in Abu Dhabi. While the UFC has yet to confirm the location, all odds seem that it will be Yas Island. Fans are rumored to be in attendance, and the UFC will offer stay packages for the event.

Will the Rodriguez vs Ribas fight spice up the main card even further?

Read: Conor McGregor vs Dustin Poirier Has a New Guest- Khabib Nurmagomedov Announces Exciting News for UFC Fight Island Week