UFC Vegas 88 – New Blood!

Contender Series continues to be an out-sized source for Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) newcomers, producing all three debutants set for UFC Vegas 88 this weekend (Sat., March 16, 2024) in Las Vegas, Nevada. On this edition of “New Blood,” the series where every gray ranking on Tapology’s event pages fills me with dread, we checkout a trio of Dana White’s latest prospects with a heap of knockout wins between them.

Mitch “The Fight Stalker” Ramirez

Weight Class: Lightweight
Age: 31
Record: 8-1 (5 KO, 1 SUB)
Notable Victories: Aireon Tavarres, Ayadi Majdeddine

Syndicate MMA’s Ramirez rode into Contender Series undefeated (7-0), only to get battered by Carlos Prates in little more than six minutes. He then took his talents to Legacy Fighting Alliance (LFA), where he finished Aireon Tavares in less than a half-round.

He steps in for Brad Riddell on around two weeks’ notice.

Ramirez — a slab of a Lightweight at 5’11” — has a fairly straightforward approach: walk after opponents, fire a steady diet of calf kicks, and unload with two-fisted flurries from either stance when he gets inside. Those low kicks can do some serious damage, as seen when he chopped down former Michael Page opponent Jeremie Holloway, and his hands were heavy enough to knock Tavares loopy against the fence.

Unfortunately, I’ve got more negative than positive things to say about Ramirez’s approach. His most visually obvious shortcomings revolve around his stance — he stands extremely flat-footed and square, which makes it difficult for him to cut off the cage against mobile opponents. That combines with limited head movement to make him highly vulnerable to counters, and as eager as he is to tear up his opponents’ lead legs, he’s open to the same in return.

These issues were on full display against the towering Prates. Ramirez had a bit of early success attacking Prates’ trailing leg and pressuring, but once Prates got his timing down, it was pure target practice until a straight left put Ramirez down for good. Holloway, who hadn’t fought in 2.5 years, did some damage of his own before Ramirez finally destroyed his leg.

It doesn’t help that Ramirez throws kicks without setup and isn’t particularly quick.

Grappling-wise, he’ll shoot a double-leg if the opportunity arises, but his top control isn’t great. Prates hit a quick butterfly sweep and Tavares spent less than five seconds on his back before getting to his feet and cracking Ramirez with an uppercut.

I just don’t see Ramirez getting far in the Octagon, especially not in a division this loaded with talent. He’ll start his run with a loss, at the very least, because Thiago Moises only ever loses to quality opposition and boasts decisive wins over similar come-forward sluggers like Kurt Holobaugh, Alexander Hernandez and Christos Giagos.

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Danny “El Puma” Silva

Weight Class: Featherweight
Age: 27
Record: 8-1 (5 KO)
Notable Victories: Angel Pacheco

Silva battled his way to a perfect (6-0) professional start before dropping a narrow decision to Contender Series veteran, Canaan Kawaihae, in his second LFA bout. After returning to the win column with a first round finish of Alex Arteaga, Silva got his own shot on Contender Series, where he overpowered Angel Pacheco in a brutal three-round war.

Those of you saddened by Shane Burgos’ decline and departure from UFC are in luck, as Silva fills a remarkably similar niche. He’s a spitefully aggressive high-volume stalker, punishing the head and body with vicious combinations. Those hands of his are razor-sharp, but they’re far from his only weapons; he’s an artist with elbows on the inside and, like “Hurricane,” tears up opponents’ calves with aplomb.

This offensive potency is bolstered by both a rock-solid chin and an absurd gas tank that let him land more than 200 significant strikes in three rounds.

Oddly enough, Silva’s standout skill and biggest weakness stem from the same source. I regularly chide incoming fighters for being unsubtle with their stance switches and they should all be taking notes from Silva. Even when focusing entirely on what he’s doing, I rarely knew whether Silva was orthodox or southpaw because he hides those switches beautifully, both by walking after his opponents and shifting behind rear-hand punches.

The problem is that his feet stop moving in the pocket. When Silva trades heat, he plants his feet and r, who got the better of their exchanges in the first round by forcing Silva to shell up, then scored a critical takedown in the second by attacking Silva’s hips when he froze in place.

It doesn’t help that he has two or three different ideas of how to guard with his hands, all of which are wrong. Sometimes he’ll bring his right hand up like he’s answering the phone while dropping his left to his waist, which opens him up to right hands, and other times he’ll expose his body by bringing up the earmuffs. Pacheco hitting him 197 times was not a fluke.

On the grappling side, his takedown defense and scrambling are both solid. The big issue is that, as mentioned, his bad habits give opponents a free shot at his hips if they goad him into an exchange.

Despite his flaws, Silva’s one of the more entertaining fighters to join UFC in some time. Like Burgos, he’s guaranteed excitement whenever he steps into the cage. He’s in for a tough debut against the heavy hands of Josh Culibao, but I like SIlva’s chances to bury Culibao in volume and emerge victorious.

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Charalampos “The Ferocious” Grigoriou

Weight Class: Bantamweight
Age: 31
Record: 8-3 (6 KO)
Notable Victories: Cameron Smotherman

Gregoriou — the first Cypriot to join UFC since Costas Philippou — put a two-fight skid behind him to win three straight. His efforts took him to Contender Series, where he smashed Cameron Smotherman in 60 seconds to earn a UFC contract.

Despite the nickname, Grigoriou is at his best when he’s methodical. He stands oddly upright and keeps a lot of his weight on his back foot as he pushes forward, flashing constant feints to set up powerful low kicks and quick combinations. He’s sharp on the counter. mixes in body shots with the rest of his offense, sets up those low kicks with left hooks, and does a great job of attacking while breaking the clinch.

Issues arise when he tries to press the attack. Grigoriou will crash forward headfirst with no regard for managing his momentum, usually with his preferred 2-3. Smotherman took advantage to crack him with some clean straight rights before Grigoriou chased him down and I’m pretty sure any opponent could just dip their head down and break Grigoriou’s nose when “The Ferocious” smashed his face into their forehead.

On top of that, Grigoriou’s gas tank looks quite poor. He was running on fumes halfway through the third round against 6-5 Chris Disonell; the only things that saved him were the damage he’d done to Disonell’s legs, some key takedowns, and Disonell’s general incompetence as a fighter.

Speaking of those takedowns, they’re Grigoriou’s go-to response when opponents try to pressure. He’s happy to grind against the fence for a while if needed, and if he does land on top, he’s very passive. Three fights ago, he laid on top of 2-5 late replacement Joey Crisostomo for the better part of two rounds and only ever threw punches at the end of the first and when he reached mount in the second, causing Crisostomo to basically give up.

On the defensive side, he shut down Crisostomo’s shots and trains out of a strong grappling camp in Longo and Weidman MMA. I do, however, want to stress that 2-5 thing again.

I’m not terribly impressed with Grigoriou. He does a few things well and does have some pop, but his litany of issues and history of can-crushing will keep him from going far in UFC’s most stacked division. He’s in for a rough debut against late replacement, Chad Anheliger, who’s sharp enough to counter Grigoriou’s blitzes and too good a scrambler for Gregoriou to smother.

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Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC Vegas 88 fight card right here, starting with the ESPN+ “Prelims” matches, which are scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. ET, then the remaining main card balance (also on ESPN+) at 7 p.m. ET.

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