Ricardo Ramos sees his path to victory against Austin Lingo on the ground.
Featherweights Ramos (16-4 MMA, 7-3 UFC) and Lingo (9-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) square off on the UFC Fight Night 221 main card March 11 at The Theater at Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas.
The Brazilian fighter is coming off a brutal spinning back elbow knockout of Danny Chavez in June 2022. But with most of his career-wins coming by submission, he aims to capitalize on Lingo’s forward pressure by taking him to the ground.
“I see I can go to the ground, I can strike,” Ramos told MMA Junkie. “You always feel in the fight, but of course I’ve been training my jiu-jitsu, training a lot of takedowns, and also the striking. But takedowns and jiu-jitsu are really my strategy going into this fight for sure. He’s a good striker. He’s an aggressive guy and he likes to come forward, always throwing combos, so it’s good to cut this off and go to the ground and don’t make him comfortable in his game. So it’s probably the No. 1 strategy.”
Ramos’ bonus-winning finish of Chavez was a spectacular one, but it’s not the first time he’s landed that same move. Ramos was also able to put Aiemann Zahabi out cold with his elbow, and now is the owner of two of five spinning back elbow knockouts in UFC history.
But with Lingo going by the moniker “Lights Out” and currently on a two-fight winning streak, Ramos is taking him seriously.
“He’s pretty good,” Ramos said. “He’s a great fighter, very aggressive, he likes to strike, and it’s a tough fight. In the UFC, there are no easy fights. Every fight is really good. You’ve got to respect your opponent. He’s training to beat my ass, so I’ve got to train to beat his ass.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 221.
