Katlyn Chookagian to Take On Amanda Ribas at May 14 UFC Fight Night Card

A crossover matchup between a top-ranked Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight and another in the top 10 at strawweight will go down this May.

Combate was first to report the pairing in March, announcing that Katlyn Chookagian (17-4) will be squaring off with Amanda Ribas (11-2) at a currently unnumbered UFC Fight Night event on May 14. The two will face off in the flyweight division, with Chookagian re-signing a deal with the promotion after ending her contract while Ribas will come back to the division after two appearances at 115 pounds. Ribas was initially booked against Michelle Waterson for March, but the fight was postponed once to May and then called off again due to what Waterson called a “career-threatening injury.” Chookagian vs. Ribas has since been confirmed by multiple outlets as well as Chookagian herself on Instagram on Friday.

Chookagian concluded her last UFC deal after capturing a trio of decision wins over Cynthia Calvillo, Viviane Araujo and Jennifer Maia in 2020, 2021 and 2022, respectively. The woman known as “Blonde Fighter” is littered throughout the women’s 125-pound record books, in which she celebrates the most wins – eight, alongside champ Valentina Shevchenko – as well as decision wins (eight), the second-highest significant strike total (727), second-most fights (11) and second-greatest amount of cage time. Throughout her run inside the Octagon, which includes 14 appearances dating back to mid-2016, Chookagian has yet to finish an opponent.

Brazil’s Ribas will be fighting at flyweight for the second time in her career, with the first a quick armbar over Paige VanZant at UFC 251 in July 2020. The remainder of her tenure as a fighter has come at 115 pounds, in which she has beaten the likes of Mackenzie Dern, Virna Jandiroba and Randa Markos since debuting in the UFC in 2019. Ribas’ overall finish rate of 64% is substantially higher than that of her opponent’s 18%, although three of her last four victories came on the scorecards.

The UFC Fight Night card on May 14 will likely be held inside the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, and it will be headlined by a rescheduled light heavyweight tilt between ex-champ Jan Blachowicz and rising contender Aleksandar Rakic. Other matchups set for this card include a light heavyweight scrap between Ryan Spann and Ion Cutelaba, a flyweight clash between Viviane Araujo and Andrea Lee and a strawweight fight pitting Jandiroba against Angela Hill.