UFC strawweight Amanda Ribas explains how she ended up ‘beating’ a 250-pound bodybuilder

Amanda Ribas flew to Sao Paulo to commentate a UFC event and ended up “beating” a large popular Brazilian bodybuilder.

Ribas was in town to make her debut as a UFC color commentator on network TV Bandeirantes and decided to extend her stay for another couple of days to visit nice restaurants and hot spots. A friend invited her to meet and work out with popular influencers and bodybuilders Renato Cariani and Julio Balestrin.

“We decided to shoot some videos, but [Balestrin] is very competitive, and so am I,” Ribas laughed. “He kept teasing me when cameras were off, saying I was taking the bait [laughs].”

Ribas, who competes at 115 and 125 pounds in the UFC, decided to teach Balestrin some MMA moves and asked if he knew how to roll in grappling.

“He’s so strong. My goodness, he’s so, so strong,” Ribas said of the 46-year-old bodybuilder, who s 6-foot-3 and weighs around 250 pounds in competition. “When you’re that strong and you roll, your weight… He fell on his face and had a black eye, poor guy. But he’s so strong, man. That was survival mode, almost. If he decides to grab me there… I just went for it.”

Watch the video below.

Ribas, 13-5 as a pro MMA fighter, will rematch Mackenzie Dern five years after defeating her via decision in her second UFC appearance, headlining UFC’s first show of 2025 on Jan. 11. Ribas lost a decision to former UFC champion Rose Namajunas at flyweight in her most recent appearance, but won her last three at strawweight.