‘I was the only girl trying to beat up all the guys’: ‘Baby Shark’ Tabatha Ricci on her MMA journey as she gears up for her biggest fight

In the extremely competitive and often cutthroat world of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), sometimes a fight becomes so much more than just another bout. Add to that the fact that the fight can potentially determine if the athlete in question can become a top contender for her weight-division title and the encounter takes on a vastly different hue. It becomes something more than just important. It becomes a must-win.

That is the exact same situation 31-year-old MMA athlete, Tabatha Ricci, from Sao Paulo, Brazil finds herself in currently.

Ricci, who joined the world’s largest MMA promotion company, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in 2021, making her debut in June of that year, hasn’t had a fight since she beat compatriot Amanda Ribas in July last year, via a technical knockout (TKO). But the extremely popular Ricci, who is known for her elite grappling and aggressive style of fighting, and has a large fan following, will be back in the Octagon (eight-sided, fenced cage used for UFC fights) this Saturday (early Sunday IST) where she will face yet another compatriot - Virna Jandiroba, who is currently ranked 3rd in the Strawweight division and boasts a more than impressive 22-4 MMA win-loss record.

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She is also returning to UFC action for the first time since challenging for the Strawweight (upper limit of 115 pounds or 52.2kg) title in October last year, where she went down to reigning champion, Mackenzie Dern.

Ricci: ‘I’m going to be ready for anything’

While Jandiroba is already a “tenured member of the Top 5”, according to UFC, there is just too much on the line for Ricci at the co-main event at the Meta APEX in Las Vegas this weekend. And the 31-year-old knows this is a golden opportunity to not just climb up the rankings, in what could be a career-defining ranked-opponent match-up, but also notch up the biggest win of her MMA career so far and position her as a viable top contender for the strawweight title.

“I’m really (well) prepared. I’ve been training all year round. I had one fight last year, but it’s still training, still in camp, always ready for a fight. You know, I think Verna is a really tough opponent. You know, she just fought for the belt. She’s a great grappler. I’m also coming from Jiu-Jitsu, from Judo. So, I’m going to be ready for anything,” Ricci told Firstpost in an exclusive interaction from Las Vegas.

It will also be very interesting to see how Jandiroba goes about her business in this crucial fight. Her grappling-heavy style of fighting has recently been targeted by a lot of fan criticism, which tags her style as “boring” ground fights. Interestingly Jandiroba has been training with Brazilian jiu-jitsu legend Demian Maia and has gone on record to say that his coaching has made her jiu-jitsu “much cleaner and more effective”. Ricci would have taken note of that.

No athlete likes to wait on the sidelines for too long and eight months can seem like an eternity in the extremely fast-paced world of MMA. But patience is a virtue and Ricci knows that where she stands currently, which is at number 7 in the UFC Strawweight rankings, means waiting for the next fight is just another facet of the trade. Wait and hope and when you get the chance, give it your everything. And that’s the mantra, that the athlete nicknamed “Baby Shark” is living by.

“I had one fight (in 2025). When you get on top of the division, it gets hard for you to fight every time, you know, there’s not a lot of options. The girls on the top have fight books (a comprehensive, often digital or physical, scouting report and strategic playbook prepared by top athletes and their coaching teams to analyse an upcoming opponent). So, you have to wait or wait for the champ to decide what she’s going to do. So, it is what it is, you just have to be ready and take the opportunities. And here I am in a great moment of my career, taking this big opportunity and (trying to) make the best of it.”

She takes her foes to the deepest ends! 🦈@TabathaRicci co-headlines #UFCVegas115 this weekend! pic.twitter.com/BP48OlPrMO

— UFC_Asia (@UFC_Asia) March 31, 2026

What has also helped keep the 5-foot one-inch-tall Brazilian grounded and relaxed, while waiting for her next fight to materialise, is the quality time she has been spending with her partner, Zuffa Boxing star, Callum Walsh. Ricci and Walsh bought a farm last year and for the UFC star, the time spent on the farm, with her animals, is like “meditation”

Ahead of her next fight against Jandiroba, Ricci told UFC - “It’s amazing…I love to be around the animals; working the farm makes me grounded, makes me busy. It’s like meditation for me; I really like it.”

Despite the farm therapy, come Saturday and Ricci will have to be at her absolute best to topple Jandiroba and inch up the hierarchy of title contenders. How she deals with the pressure that comes with it will be key.

“Pressure is always, always there. I’m here, I’m enjoying the fight week. It’s how you take the pressure. I’m just well prepared. I’m going to go there, project all my training and, you know, win or lose, I’m going to give a good fight,” Ricci further told Firstpost.

“To give a good fight” – That could well be the title of Ricci’s autobiography. The Brazilian’s martial arts journey began at the age of six, when she started her training in Judo – going on to collect a blackbelt in it. She also holds a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and is in fact a two-time World champion in that martial art (blue belt in Brazil and purple belt in California). She is also a highly trained and accomplished Muay Thai athlete, having won the Brazilian Nationals, before she entered the world of professional MMA. She also trains in boxing and wrestling.

Ricci’s family history, MMA journey

The fact that “Baby Shark” picked up Judo first is not a surprise at all. Her father, Carlos “Trovao” Salto, is a judo master and a highly respected martial arts personality in Brazil.

“My father is a hero for me. He always motivates me. He always supports me. He and the rest of my family. I’m really lucky to be born in the family that I have. Yeah, you know, I have huge respect and always want to make my family proud of me,” Ricci told Firstpost in an exclusive interview.

On the hunt 🦈@TabathaRicci | #UFCVegas115

[ APR 4 | 8pmET on @ParamountPlus ] pic.twitter.com/2GxC8vup5b

— UFC (@ufc) April 1, 2026

Early and then continued family support is always such an important chapter of any successful athlete’s life-story. And having covered that aspect, we were curious to know just how Ricci picked-up the nickname of “Baby Shark”. It’s something I really wanted to ask her, considering the fact that if you visualise a baby shark, it can be both fascinating and terrorising at the same time.

So, what is the story behind this nickname?

“I got this name at my jiu-jitsu gym. There was a coach there, who when I showed up for training, always said – ‘oh, Baby Shark’s in the house.’ I was the only girl (in that gym), the smallest one and trying to beat all the guys up, so he always called me Baby Shark,” Ricci shared with Firstpost.

The 31-year-old of course has had a long MMA career already. The fight against Jandiroba will be her 11th UFC fight. She so far has an impressive 7-3 win-loss record at the UFC, with four of the seven wins coming via unanimous decision. After her first two professional MMA fights, Ricci was having trouble finding more fights and decided to move to Japan in 2017 to train and compete in custom-rules bouts (bouts which modify the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts to create unique spectacles, often focusing on specific techniques, such as allowing soccer kicks (PRIDE FC), removing gloves (bare-knuckle MMA), or changing ring types). Her stepping stone to the UFC was the Legacy Fighting Alliance – the MMA promotion company based in Houston, Texas. She signed a 3-fight contract with LFA in 2020 and won all her bouts there.

“The LFA was a huge opportunity, especially during the COVID time. When none of the organizations were actually working, LFA was one that was putting on fights and making the fights happen even in COVID times. So, it opened a lot of doors for me and it (LFA) is an amazing organization. They build champs, you know. They’re really, really serious about the business. I’m really grateful for the LFA and because of the LFA, I’m in the UFC right now. I’m just grateful, the journey has been amazing.” Ricci told Firstpost in an exclusive interaction from Las Vegas.

With 15 professional MMA fights under her belt, Ricci knows now is the time to really take a big, big step forward in her MMA career. Of course, every fight has its own characteristics and every fight teaches an MMA athlete something new – about themselves and their sport. Which is why, when asked if she has a favourite fight, Ricci had this to say:

“Every fight has been really special for me. Different. I don’t have like a favourite fight, but, you know, my last fight (vs Amanda Riobas, which Ricci won via TKO), that was different. I had a really good feeling because I was coming off a loss (vs Yan Xiaonan via unanimous decision). So, it was really good having TKO in the UFC. But I don’t actually have like a favourite fight. Every fight is different,” Ricci told Firstpost.

Come Saturday though that could change. If Ricci has her hand held up by the referee at the end of her bout against Jandiroba this weekend, she could finally have a favourite fight. But regardless of what the final outcome maybe, as “Baby Shark” prepares to circle her prey, she knows she has to approach perhaps the most important fight of her MMA career with the same mindset that she has always had and guided by the exact same mantra that has brought her to this stage of her life and career.

“I will always look forward to giving the best of myself, my heart and give everyone a good fight.”

Watch UFC Fight Night - Moicano vs. Duncan on 5th April, 2026 from 3:30 AM IST live on the Sony Sports Network