Tabatha Ricci expects a win over Jessica Penne to catapult her career.
Ricci (7-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) faces Penne (14-6 MMA, 3-4 UFC) at UFC 285 on March 4 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Penne is a former Invicta FC atomweight champion and a former UFC title challenger. She was part of “The Ultimate Fighter” season in 2014 that crowned an inaugural strawweight champion, so Ricci considers her a pioneer.
“For me, it’s an honor to be fighting Jessica because she’s one of the OGs in the division,” Ricci told MMA Junkie Radio. “She started the division and I think she was the first one to fight for the strawweight belt against Joanna (Jedrzejczyk).
“She fought a lot of good girls – Jessica Andrade, all the top five, top 10 – so it’s an honor to be sharing the cage with her. She has a lot of experience. She has more fights than me, so it’s going to be a big step for me, a big challenge. But I’m ready and I’m very excited for this fight. I think we’re really going to put on a show.”
After she dropped her UFC debut to No. 1 flyweight contender Manon Fiorot, Ricci picked up back-to-back wins over Maria Oliveira and Polyana Viana, who’s currently No. 15 in the UFC’s strawweight rankings. So with a win over Penne, Ricci hopes she lands a spot in the rankings.
“I would say I’m right in the edge to get in the rankings,” Ricci said. “I just fought Polyana, and I had a victory against her and I just saw that she got in the top 15 rankings. I think I’m supposed to be right there because I got a win against her and she’s in the top 15. So maybe after this fight, they have to put me up there.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 285.