Among several debuting fighters at UFC Vegas 98 this Saturday is Ramazan Temirov, an Uzbek fighter taking on CJ Vergara in flyweight action. The card is headlined by another flyweight pair, Tatsuro Taira and Brandon Royval, and sees the promotion back at the UFC Apex.
Ramazan “Temurlan” Temirov
Standing at five-foot-five
Fighting at 125 lbs (flyweight)
27-years-old
Fighting out of Uzbekistan
Training out of Muradov Legion Team
A pro record of 17-2
10 KO/TKOs, 1 Submission
Pro comp; John Lineker
How Temirov Will Fare in the UFC
It’s always exciting when the UFC brings in new blood at flyweight. Even more exciting when it’s a 17-2 flyweight. Temirov also comes from RIZIN which is a promotion that’s given us top notch guys. Ramazonbek Temirov was never a champion there but went 2-0.
His success stems from various reasons but I’d like to say it’s his power and defense. Basically everything thrown from Temirov is wide. The only thing he throws down the middle is that spinning kick to the body. He loves the overhand especially with the right hand. A lot of the times Temirov will let who he’s fighting dictate the pace. Temirov will use a lot of side to side movement making his opponent chase him around expanding their energy. He lets guys walk into his power and can do it for three rounds. Temirov throws those overhands and also throws thudding leg kicks and hooks to the body.
Defensively he’s hard to catch. A lot of evasive footwork and a good gas tank makes it hard for guys to track him down. Where you want to put him is against the cage. In space he has solid takedown defense as his sprawling is excellent. Now, his cage wrestling isn’t as good and that’s where hes been taken down before. With the striking he throws those looping punches so a jab and straight punches would give Temirov a lot of issues. Temirov isn’t a volume guy as he wins fights off being more durable, landing the knockout blow, or having the bigger moments.
At 125 at the higher level Temirov is going to go up against guys that are fast, high paced, and don’t slow down. If guys could just avoid the power and stay away from those exchanges in the pocket I see Temirov having problems finding his rhythm. Temirov is absolutely a UFC level fighter and brings a lot of excitement to the division. He’s the type of guy you’d expect to sit at the top of the division but can make it further with the abilities he does have.
How he matches up with CJ Vergara
In the UFC, Vergara has won against strikers and has lost to opponents who are primarily grapplers. So he is getting a favorable style match-up. Temirov doesn’t wrestle so I expect a striking affair. Vergara is the cleaner striker. He throws a good jab and more down the middle. The only thing is, he isn’t stringing together punches as he’s a stick and move guy and more selective on what he throws.
That won’t be good enough against Temirov because if you are going strike for strike against him, he’ll land the impactful blows. If Vergara picks up his pace he has the style to piece apart Temirov. I view this fight as a pick ’em and it depends on how Vergara fights. I expect him to fight how he usually fights. I expect it to be close but Temirov will win the moments. What he lands will look and be heavier than what Vergara lands. I have Temirov by decision in this fight.
