"Oh no, this is too big of a step up" - Fans react as Tabatha Ricci is booked to fight one of the top-ranked women's strawweights

The UFC recently announced Tabatha Ricci's next opponent, and fans aren't optimistic about her chances in the matchup. The No.9-ranked Brazilian strawweight won her last fight via unanimous decision and will now look to make a huge jump up the rankings against the No.2-ranked contender, Yan Xiaonan.

Xiaonan's last bout was at UFC 300, where she pushed UFC strawweight queen Zhang Weili to the absolute limit in an intense battle. She ultimately came up short, but her stock arguably rose after an impressive and resilient performance.

Prior to the UFC's official announcement of the bout, MMA reporter Marcel Dorff was the first to reveal that the two would lock horns at UFC Macau on 23 November.

Ricci's last outing was a hard-fought decision win over divisional veteran Angela Hill, and she is 6-2 in the promotion. Meanwhile, Xiaonan has faced much tougher competition, having already fought three former champions. The Chinese contender's striking and Ricci's somewhat limited arsenal on the feet indicate a challenging matchup for the latter.

As such, fans don't have high hopes for Ricci in her next fight, as seen in the comments below Dorff's post on X. One fan wrote:

"Oh no, this is too big of a step up. Yan by whatever she wants"

Other fans concurred, writing:

"Ricci getting tossed"

"She is going to lose"

"Xiaonon gonna hurt Ricci"

Check out more fan reactions below:

Fan reactions to @BigMarcel24's post on X

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Apart from Yan Xiaonan vs. Tabatha Ricci, what other fights have been announced for UFC Macau?

The UFC has announced several other matchups scheduled for 23 November in Macau.

Currently, the Yan Xiaonan vs. Tabatha Ricci fight occupies the co-main event spot on the card. A pivotal bantamweight showdown between former 135-pound champion Petr Yan and former two-time 125-pound king Deiveson Figueiredo will headline the Fight Night event.

Here are the fights that have been announced so far:

Petr Yan vs. Deiveson Figueiredo

Yan Xiaonan vs. Tabatha Ricci

Volkan Oezdemir vs. Carlos Ulberg

Song Keenan vs. Muslim Salikhov

Wang Kong vs. Gabriela Fernandes

Zhang Mignyang vs. Ozzy Diaz

Lone'er Kavanagh vs. Jose Ochoa

Nyamjargal Tumendemberel vs. Carlos Hernandez