Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports
Lightweight Davi Ramos thinks he’ll have a stylistic advantage over Islam Makhachev at UFC 242.
In a lightweight match of sambo against Brazilian jiu-jitsu, UFC 242’s Davi Ramos believes he will have an edge over his opponent, Islam Makhachev, in Abu Dhabi. Expected to perform in the third last bout of the card, the Brazilian tells Combate he is looking forward to fight on the card and for the chance to become a ranked athlete.
Number 15 on the UFC’s official lightweight rankings, Makhachev is a heavy-handed lightweight who also has submission skills, but Ramos remains unfazed. In fact, Davi says he won’t hold back in the Octagon and will always look for the finish.
“I expect another victory, one to put me on the next echelon of the divison. It’s hard to get a fight against a ranked athlete, because they want to move up, they don’t want to fight someone outside of the ranking. I’m thankful that he accepted the fight, it’s a great opportunity and I’ll hold on to it. I’ll go for the kill.”
A decorated Brazilian jiu-jitsu blackbelt, Ramos believes that having the fight take place on the ground will be an advantage for him, since Makhachev is also a world champion in combat sambo.
“It’s a great matchup for me, because I come from jiu-jitsu and grappling is also his strong suit. I don’t think he will try to (grapple), but I dream about it so that we could put on a show for the people, they are hoping for a ground battle. I hope I can show that to the world, it’s going to be really cool.”
Currently on a four-fight winning streak, Davi Ramos (10-2) defeated the likes of Chris Gruetzemacher, Nick Hein, John Gunther and Austin Hubbard in his last outings, with all but his latest win, back in May, coming by way of rear-naked choke. The 32-year-old’s last and sole Octagon loss happened in his debut, in March 2017, when he was bested by fellow blackbelt Sergio Moraes via unanimous decision.
Now, Davi Ramos is expected to meet Islam Makhachev at UFC 242, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on September 7. The card is expected to be headlined by a lightweight title unification bout between the champion, Khabib Nurmagomedov and interim title holder Dustin Poirer.