Conor McGregor has hailed stablemate Ricardo Ramos after the Brazilian recorded a devastating spinning elbow KO victory.
Ramos fought Danny Chavez at the UFC's event in Austin on Saturday night which was headlined by Calvin Kattar's defeat to Josh Emmett. The Brazilian star is part of the Paradigm Sports management label alongside McGregor and he was looking to respond to a decision defeat against Zubaira Tukhugov last year at UFC 267.
The 26-year-old wasted no time and came flying out of the blocks to record the fifth spinning elbow KO in UFC history. McGregor took to social media to heap praise on his stablemate, writing on Instagram : "Paradigm Sports' own! What an incredibly exciting fighter this Brazilian 145lb star is. Incredible excitement towards the UFC world title. My former division. My former belt. Congratulations tonight!"
In a scintillating display, the UFC featherweight began with a great early rhythm with the fight bursting into life just seconds into the three round contest. Ramos feinted low before unleashing a crushing spinning elbow which landed flush on his opponent Chavez's chin.
Chavez quickly sunk to the canvas before Ramos hastily piled in to follow up with some crisp hooks to close the show, but they were deemed largely unnecessary with Chavez already out on his feet. This was in fact the second time Ramos had recorded a KO with the spinning elbow, having knocked out defeated Aiemann Zahabi with an almost identical shot in 2017.
This earned Ramos a Performance of the Night bonus worth around $50,000. Ramos has recorded two of the five spinning elbow finishes in the promotion's history, which follows up female star Molly McCann's spinning elbow KO at UFC London this year. He was delighted with his extraordinary finish but believes it can longer be dismissed as luck.
What did you make of Ricardo Ramos' spinning elbow KO? Let us know in the comments section below
“You repeat, repeat, sometimes you connect, sometimes you don’t,” Ramos said of landing the stunning stoppage. “But you repeat the position 10,000 times, one day you’ll get it in the fight and today I got it one more time to show that it’s not lucky.
McGregor may have had itchy knuckles watching on having not fought since breaking his leg against Dustin Poirier last year. The Irish star has since made a return to training and has given fans fresh hope of a return this year having began kicking with his injured leg.
Several options have emerged for the UFC superstar who has shown off a new ripped physique throughout his recovery phase including a title shot against Kamaru Usman at 170lb. The Irishman previously fought at 155lb but is confident in making a switch with Jorge Masvidal and Michael Chandler also calling out the former double-champion in that division.
