Featherweights Ricardo Ramos and Chepe Mariscal faced off in a promising preliminary card scrap at UFC Vegas 103 on Saturday.
Ramos put a stop to his two-fight skid with a win over Josh Culibao last August. Meanwhile, Mariscal was looking to keep the momentum going after winning his first four fights under the UFC banner.
Round one started with both fighters opening with kicks; both missed. On his second try, Mariscal grazed Ramos’ chin with a head kick. He then blitzed and pushed Ramos to the fence, who answered with flying switch kick. Chepe used his favourite judo throw off the clinch to get Ramos down, but the Brazilian quickly got back up. Chepe set a high pace to start, as he landed a heavy leg kick and big right hand. Shortly after, they went to the ground and Ramos used a calf slicer to get back up. Once on the feet, Mariscal landed a rare open palm strike. Some more heavy hooks from Chepe were answered by Ramos with a patented spinning elbow that stunned Marscal.
Chepe recovered quickly and went right back on offence. He even nearly took Ramos’ back, but ‘Caracinha’ reversed it. They landed in a 50-50 position on the ground with both attacking heel hooks. They eventually let their leg attacks go and the round ended. An entertaining first round that went to Mariscal due to activity.
In the second round, the pair threw strikes at the same time, but Chepe caught Ramos with a short right elbow. They clinched for a while, but nothing of consequence was landed on either side. Chepe was consistently finding a home for his left hands from the southpaw stance when moving forward. Ramos, feeling the need to land something of his own, moved forward and landed another spinning elbow that Mariscal somehow ate cleanly. The elbow didn’t deter ‘Machine Gun’ as he kept pressuring Ramos.
A funny-looking sequence followed as three consecutive side kicks to the leg were landed by Mariscal without a counter from the Brazilian. Mariscal, wanting to finish the round strong, poured it on in the final minute. He extended his combinations and didn’t give Ramos any time to breathe. Mariscal went into the third up two rounds.
Perhaps feeling the need to switch things up, Ramos attempted a takedown to start round three. The attempt was easily stuffed by Mariscal. Ramos, breathing heavier than Chepe, was only able to throw one strike at a time. The Brazilian fighter tried to intercept Chepe with a front kick, but Mariscal instead turned it into a short-lived takedown. Ramos was landing when he was throwing, but Chepe was simply more active. In desperate need of a Hail Mary strike, Ramos some more spinning elbows. But Chepe was wise to those, now, and comfortably rode his lead to the end of the round.
Official Result: Chepe Mariscal def. Ricardo Ramos by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
