Preview: UFC Fight Night 232 ‘Allen vs. Craig’

Women’s Strawweights

#10 WSW | Amanda Ribas (11-4, 6-3 UFC) vs. #9 WSW | Luana Pinheiro (11-1, 3-0 UFC)

ODDS: Ribas (-258), Pinheiro (+210)

This might be the most interesting fight on the card, as the winner could be set up for some big things while the loser might need to come up with some answers. After her UFC debut was delayed for two years, Ribas made up for lost time upon making her first UFC appearance in 2019. After a dominant win over Emily Whitmore, Ribas scored a massive upset of Mackenzie Dern, showing star-level charisma and setting herself up as a future strawweight contender. Everything was all systems go up until her 2021 loss to Marina Rodriguez, which saw her charge directly into a knockout, and while the Brazilian has remained relevant in the years since, she has struggled to fully capture that momentum. A recent three-fight move up to flyweight highlighted exactly how much of Ribas’ success hinges on aggression and physicality. Against larger opponents, her tendency to confidently charge right into danger saw her wrestling get stalled out much more as she also absorbed more impactful damage. A June loss to Maycee Barber looks to have been the final nail in the coffin for Ribas’ flyweight aspirations, but her return to strawweight sees her draw another Brazilian dependent on confidence and physicality. Pinheiro’s game is pared down but effective, as she fires some powerful single strikes in the hopes that her opponent will close distance, at which point she can use her judoka background to land a lot of throws and play an effective bully. It is still unclear how far Pinheiro can carry that approach, in part thanks to inactivity. Her debut ended quickly via illegal upkick, and she athletically overwhelmed Sam Hughes, then missed a year and a half of action before squeaking out a decision win over Michelle Waterson-Gomez in April. Ribas is an entirely different challenge than that previous opposition, and this could cut one of two ways. Either Ribas can absorb Pinheiro’s offense and make her pay in a way that no other opponent has, or this is another fight where she eats a ton of punches while closing ranks and finds herself unable to overpower her opponent. The read is that Ribas can do enough to win this fight on pace with the physical parity she has back down at strawweight, but she still figures to take some damage in the process. The pick is Ribas via decision.

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Allen vs. Craig
Morales vs. Matthews
Hooper vs. Leavitt
Talbott vs. Aguirre
Ribas vs. Pinheiro
Medic vs. Orolbai
The Prelims