Two featherweights look to break their losing streaks in this fun
contrast of styles. Signed as a late replacement for a card in New
Zealand back in 2020, Australia’s Culibao looked like he might
struggle to find his footing on the UFC roster. “Kuya” looked
decent enough as a striker, but on top of being quite unproven in
terms of competition, Culibao looked like the type of subpar
athlete who might find himself consistently outgunned. After
dropping that UFC debut to Jalin
Turner, Culibao went on a surprisingly successful run, going
undefeated over the course of four fights and showing himself to be
a crafty opportunist. He has still had to overcome a clear athletic
disadvantage but has fought hard and adjusted throughout his
fights, even finding a sudden submission against Melsik
Baghdasaryan in early 2023. However, Culibao’s last two fights
have been reminders of his ceiling. Rising featherweight Lerone
Murphy had the same level of in-fight intelligence as Culibao
but with standout athleticism, and then-UFC newcomer Danny Silva
was able to swipe a decision from him through sheer aggression and
activity. Culibao could use a win, but he’ll once again have to
overcome some disadvantages on paper against Ramos. Somehow still
on the right side of 30, Ramos has the type of talent that suggests
he could turn a corner at any time, though the Brazilian’s UFC
career has had little in the way of consistency. Ramos’ approach
can sometimes center around dynamic techniques and hunting for the
finish over any sort of round-by-round consistency, and that has
made things a bit of an adventure. Ramos has multiple wins in the
UFC via spinning elbow, but he is just as prone to collapsing when
things go south, as seen in his dropping each of his last two
fights in the first round via guillotine choke. Ramos might be able
to land some big shots and coast on his athleticism the rest of the
way, but the call is that he has neither the cardio nor all-out
aggression to keep Culibao out of this fight for three rounds. The
pick is Culibao via decision.
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