The strawweight title picture is a confusing one. The UFC vacated the title when Weili Zhang moved up to flyweight to challenge for the belt there. Mackenzie Dern then claimed that title against Virna Jandiroba, but a failed attempt at becoming a double champ has Weili Zhang in limbo. Some feel she’s earned the right to come back and fight for her old title – others want to see fresh faces. One of those fresh faces, Tabatha Ricci, believes that the old champ gets to call her own shot on that one.
“I think she deserves to come back and fight for the title straight. She’s been proved a lot, you know? She’s been proved for everybody,” Ricci said. “She’s the best in the division. So, I think she deserves to get the title shot, but we don’t know when. That’s the thing, everybody is waiting to see when Weili is going to come back.”
And while she’s waiting to hear of when the champ will come back and fight, Ricci has her own big fight on the horizon. A booking with the aforementioned Virna Jandiroba should put her firmly in the conversation for before or after Weili returns.
“It’s a huge step. You know, it put me right there to fight for the next, for the title next. So I was honored,” Ricci said. “I think if I have a good performance against Jandidova, it’ll put me right for the next. So I think it just depends how it’s going to be – the fight.”
Making this an exciting fight she feels will be easy. She thinks her advantages in each facet of the game should make for an undeniable, dominant performance that will leave no question in the bosses’ heads.
“I think I’m going to be a little bit more complete in this fight It’s going to be a lot of smarts and see who is going to find who first. I’m really excited and I’m going to be ready if it goes to the ground, I’ll be at home. If it stays on the top, I think I have a little bit more advantage on the strikes,” she said. “It ends with Baby Shark win and challenge for the belt.”
You can see “Baby Shark” stake her claim for a title shot as the co-main event of UFC Vegas 115. The fight card begins at 5pm EST and airs on Paramount+.