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Fatima Kline has a new opponent booked for UFC Oklahoma City. She was supposed to take on Amanda Ribas, but the Brazilian fighter pulled out due to dizziness. Kline now takes on Tabatha Ricci in the strawweight division.
Multiple sources confirmed the fight to Heavy.com after an initial report from AG Fight. The fight takes place at the Paycom Center on July 18 in Oklahoma City. Kline still gets the opportunity to fight someone above her in the division. Ricci is ranked at number eight in the division. Kline is the eleventh-ranked strawweight.
A Big Opportunity For Fatima Kline
Fatima Kline is rapidly becoming one of the most exciting prospects in the UFC strawweight division. The 25-year-old Holbrook, New York native entered the promotion in 2024 as a former two-division CFFC champion. She lost her undefeated streak in a short-notice flyweight debut against Jasmine Jasudavicius. After the loss, she quickly dropped back down to her natural strawweight class. She bounced back in 2025 with three dominant victories.
First, she secured a second-round TKO against Viktoriia Dudakova. Next, she earned a Performance of the Night bonus with a spectacular head-kick knockout against Melissa Martinez. She capped off the year by defeating veteran contender Angela Hill via unanimous decision and got ranked in the top 15. Now, Kline gets her wish to fight a top-10 opponent when she faces Tabatha Ricci on July 18. Ricci is replacing the injured Amanda Ribas.
Tabatha Ricci Needs To Win To Remain In The Top 10
Ricci came over from LFA to the UFC in 2021. She took a short-notice fight at a weight class above against Manon Fiorot. Ricci got finished in the second round but had her UFC contract and went immediately back down to her actual weight class of strawweight. Ricci racked up a couple of solid wins in the Octagon. She beat former title challenger Jessica Penne and future title challenger Gillian Robertson. Unfortunately, she was on the wrong side of a split decision against Loopy Godinez, breaking her four-fight winning streak.
Ricci then beat both Tecia Pennington and Angela Hill and got the opportunity to fight Yan Xiaonan in a contender fight. The Chinese fighter was too strong and beat Ricci via unanimous decision. After that fight, Ricci fought a Brazilian battle against Amanda Ribas. Ricci finished Ribas via a couple of vicious elbows to the face. Because of that impressive showing, she got an opportunity to fight the highly ranked Virna Jandiroba. Jandiroba won after three rounds via unanimous decision. Ricci now returns three months after that loss to defend her top 10 spot in the rankings against Fatima Kline.
UFC Oklahoma City – July 18 (Paycom Center)
- Jared Cannonier vs. Christian Leroy Duncan
- Tabatha Ricci vs. Fatima Kline
- Kevin Holland vs. Jacobe Smith
- Brad Tavares vs. Marc-André Barriault
- Veronica Hardy vs. Dione Barbosa
- Jose Delgado vs. Austin Bashi
- Chase Hooper vs. Mitch Ramirez
- Jean-Paul Lebosnoyani vs. SeokHyeon Ko
- Alden Coria vs. Stewart Nicoll
- Tommy McMillen vs. Alberto Montes
- Alvin Hines vs. Allen Frye Jr.
- Felipe Franco vs. Levi Rodrigues Jr.
Marcel Dorff Marcel Dorff covers Mixed Martial Arts & Soccer for Heavy.com. He has covered MMA on a professional level since 2022. More about Marcel Dorff