The best and worst from UFC 242: Khabib vs. Poirier

#2 Worst: Makhachev vs. Ramos turns out to be a damp squib

The fight between Islam Makhachev and Davi Ramos was somewhat disappointing

I was quite excited by the prospect of Islam Makhachev vs. Davi Ramos as I felt like we’d see how Makhachev dealt with a really great grappler after largely using his own grappling skills to dominate his previous opponents. In hindsight, due to the styles and skillsets of both men, I probably should’ve guessed what we’d actually get – a slow striking battle with Makhachev doing just enough to edge a decision.

Essentially, both men are largely counter-based strikers; Makhachev was more aggressive in his earlier days but a KO loss to Adriano Martins seems to have changed that. And while Makhachev has tremendous wrestling, he clearly didn’t want to mess around with a fresh Ramos on the ground, and in turn, the Brazilian didn’t have the takedowns to ground the Dagestani.

It wasn’t the worst fight of 2019 by any means; both men worked hard and the third round got exciting once Makhachev hurt Ramos with a knee and came close to a finish, but realistically it was hard not to be disappointed by the fact that we never really got to see Makhachev test his grappling against an Abu Dhabi grappling champion. Unfortunately, we’re best to forget this one.