Women’s strawweight contender Tabatha Ricci (12-3) takes on third-ranked former title challenger Virna Jandiroba (22-4) in the UFC Vegas 115 co-main event on Saturday and believes a win could earn her a title shot.
“I feel every fight is the biggest fight of my career so far,” Ricci said during the UFC Vegas 115 Media Day. “That’s what I want. I’m going to go vicious as I can. Try to get my best performance of the night and get my challenge for the belt.”
Ricci will enter the UFC Vegas 115 co-main event at Meta Apex ranked No. 7 in the division and coming off a TKO win over Amanda Ribas last July. Outside of former two-time titleholder Zhang Weili, who relinquished the title to move up a weight class to challenge for a second divisional championship, there’s no leading contender to face newly crowned champion Mackenzie Dern.
“I do think Weili of course wants to – I don’t know if she’s going to retire, but if she do, she probably wants to retire as a champ. So she deserves to have a title shot back,” Ricci said.
If Weili faces Dern next, Ricci’s willing to entertain taking a fight against another contender if it gets her closer to a title bout.
“Any fight, any time. Whatever takes me closer to my goals, I’ll be willing to do it,” she said.
