LAS VEGAS – Luana Pinheiro would have rather crossed paths with fellow Brazilian Amanda Ribas at the top.
Pinheiro (11-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) meets former housemate Ribas (11-4 MMA, 6-3 UFC) on Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 232 main card at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The event streams on ESPN+.
Both coming from a judo background, Pinheiro and Ribas lived together in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. So, Pinheiro wasn’t expecting to ever have to fight Ribas – unless it was for the UFC strawweight title.
“I obviously would not ever choose this fight to happen except for a belt,” Pinheiro told MMA Junkie and other reporters through an interpreter at Wednesday’s UFC Fight Night 232 media day. “I wish this fight was for a belt, but yeah, it is weird the fact that we lived together, we’re friends, and we hung out together. We never back in the day when we used to live in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, we never thought this could happen – especially now.”
Stylistically, Pinheiro thinks her fight with Ribas is bound to deliver. Pinheiro is currently riding a nine-fight winning streak and is unbeaten in the octagon.
“It’s going to be a good fight because she presses forward, she goes at it, she really looks for a fight and I think you’re really going to see an actual MMA fight,” Pinheiro said. “It’s also an opportunity for us as you said to showcase everything we trained for, everything that we are, and I think I’m very excited about the fight and people are going to see it.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 232.
