Under the Radar at UFC Rochester: Davi Ramos

E. Spencer Kyte

Under the Radar at UFC Rochester: Davi Ramos image

Prior to every event, Under the Radar will cast the spotlight on an up-and-coming talent who shows the potential for growth in their division and isn’t getting enough attention as they head into battle.

Name: Davi Ramos

Record: 9-2 overall; 3-1 UFC

Division:Lightweight

Team:Team Nogueira

Getting attention as you’re working your way up the ranks in the lightweight division might be the most challenging venture in the UFC, as the weight class is packed with talent and there are multiple bouts featuring 155-pound fighters almost every weekend.

Back when I used to write a “10 Reasons to Watch” piece prior to every event, one of the points always carried the subhead “This Week’s Important Lightweight Matchup” or something to that effect because even if there wasn’t a fight between ranked opponents on the card, there was another up-and-comer returning to action or two guys just outside the Top 15 squaring off, looking to take another step forward.

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The secondary piece of that is that with an important fight happening seemingly every Saturday night (or the occasional Sunday), the breakthrough performance from the previous week quickly became yesterday’s news. Unless you did something truly magical, it was always on to the next one like Jay and Swizz Beatz.

This week’s example of the struggle is Davi Ramos, a world-class grappler on a three-fight finishing streak since returning to his natural weight class who can’t seem to make any headway in the division.

The 32-year-old is built like a tank and has finished his last two opponents (Nick Hein and John Gunther) in the first-round, yet this weekend in Western New York, he’s paired off with promotional newcomer Austin Hubbard. So, not only does Ramos have to deal with the crush of competition from week-to-week, but he’s also saddled with a pairing that isn’t going to do him any favors either because the 2015 ADCC gold medalist is an overwhelming favorite and anything less than a dominant stoppage win will be viewed as not enough.

All of that being said, you’d better start paying close attention to Ramos because he’s a special talent when the fight hits the ground and he’s already in the early stages of what feels like an early Demian Maia-like run in the lightweight division. (Sidenote: how good was Demian Maia when he first rolled into the Octagon? That triangle setup and finish against Chael Sonnen is still one of my favorites).

Aptly nicknamed “The Tazmanian Devil,” Ramos has just enough power in his hands to keep you honest on the feet. But make no mistake about it: he’s looking to get inside, get the fight to the ground and get you out of there each and every time he steps into the Octagon.

We talk all the time about great grapplers and submission specialists, but when you see someone like Ramos get to work, you realize that we’ve been playing fast and loose with our descriptions. Pay attention throughout night on Saturday to the exchanges on the ground before he and Hubbard hit the cage to kick off the main card and then watch their fight and see if you can spot the difference.

You should be able to because Ramos is a next-level grappler, who just forces opponents to make poor choices or finds a way to get where he wants to go, regardless of what his opponent is giving him or how diligently they’re trying to defend. His compact, but hulking frame makes him a crushing dude to contend with from top position and the kicker is that he’s not one of these jiu jitsu players who struggles to get fights to the canvas.

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Go back and watch his fight against Hein, who represented Germany in judo at the international level and isn’t an easy guy to take down. Ramos times an entry two minutes into the fight perfectly and puts Hein on his back in the center of the cage. 

At the three-minute mark of the fight, Ramos hits a back-take that's just bonkers, going from attacking a kimura from half guard to stepping over and climbing onto Hein’s back when he goes to his knees thinking he’s got a way out. It’s a beautiful trap that Hein walked right into and just over a minute later, the fight was done, as Hein tapped to a brutal neck crank that got recorded as a rear-naked choke finish.

He made even quicker work of Gunther six months later. If he does something similar to Hubbard, who is 10-2 and on a three-fight winning streak, but is taking a major step up in competition, don’t be surprised if the Brazilian steamroller starts lobbying for an established opponent and a chance to work his way up the rankings.

We won’t know for sure where his ceiling rests until he shares the Octagon with a name-brand lightweight, but from what he’s shown thus far and his pedigree on the ground, Ramos clearly has the potential to go on a real run and shake things up in the 155-pound weight class.

E. Spencer Kyte