After coming up short in her first title opportunity, Virna Jandiroba bounced back with a dominant performance against Tabatha Ricci in the UFC Vegas 115 co-main event.
It only took Jandiroba 40 seconds to secure her first takedown of the fight, though she couldn’t keep Ricci on the mat for long. However, Ricci wouldn’t stay on her feet for long after the one-time title challenger took her down near the fence and immediately jumped on her back.
Ricci defended the position, preventing Jandiroba from doing any damage or fishing for submissions, but the round clearly went to Jandiroba on the scorecards.
Jandiroba secured another takedown in the opening moments of round two, settling into Ricci’s guard in the center of the Octagon. After spending a majority of the stanza on her back, Ricci worked her way back up with 70 seconds to go. Unfortunately, she couldn’t muster any real offense before being put down just before the end of the round.
It was more of the same in the third, though this time, Ricci was in top position. With Jandiroba already having two rounds in the bank, the Brazilian had no problem being on her back for a bit. Of course, that didn’t last long as Jandiroba popped up with relative ease and went right back to work.
With time running out, Ricci attempted to ramp up her offense, but by then, it was too little, too late.
Official Result: Virna Jandiroba def. Tabatha Ricci via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28).
