Preview: UFC Fight Night 221 ‘Yan vs. Dvalishvili’

Tom FeelyMar 09, 2023

Featherweights


Ricardo Ramos (16-4, 7-3 UFC) vs. Austin Lingo (9-1, 2-1 UFC)

ODDS: Ramos (-360), Lingo (+295)

This looks like a guaranteed banger. It is easy to forget Ramos is still young. He was already an experienced vet when he hit the UFC in 2017, but starting his pro career as a teenager meant that “Carcacinha” was still just 21 years old. Now 27, the Brazilian has clearly improved over time, but he has served as a reminder that progress does not always come in a straight line. He is capable of some spectacular techniques, like his two spinning back elbow finishes in the UFC, and some impressive grappling, but there is still the occasional performance where things start to crumble in the face of some high-powered resistance. That makes for an interesting pairing against Lingo, who has been nothing if not consistent during his three-fight UFC career. “Lights Out” has shown a simple approach thus far, built around marching his opponent down and throwing absolute heat. That unsurprisingly earned him a string of quick finishes on the regional level, but after dropping his UFC debut to Youssef Zalal, Lingo has proven capable of keeping up a pace over 15 minutes. That is helped by the fact that Lingo is able to eat a ton of damage, which raises the possibility that he can drag Ramos into deeper waters and eventually find some success. Even so, that seems like a risky proposition against someone as dynamic as Ramos, particularly since the Brazilian figures to be able to take this to the mat and make something impressive happen. The pick is Ramos via first-round submission.



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Yan vs. Dvalishvili
Romanov vs. Volkov
Krylov vs. Spann
Ramos vs. Lingo
Nurmagomedov vs. Martinez
Petrino vs. Turkalj
The Prelims