Joshua Culibao and Ricardo Ramos at the UFC 305 weigh-in. Photo credit: Youtube/UFC
UFC 305 was a pivotal night for featherweights Josh Curivao and Ricardo Ramos, as both fighters were coming off consecutive losses.
Clibao’s current poor form has halted his three-game winning streak, while Ramos has just one win in four games since 2021.
The bout started with Ramos probing the distance with long strikes including leg kicks and flashing spinning kicks. Most of his kicks landed, but Clibao was able to partially block some. Both fighters were adept at using their feet to avoid strikes. Joshua landed a hard calf kick 90 seconds into the bout, which Ramos definitely felt. Ricardo started to rush forward, and Clibao landed another leg kick that sent Ramos limping. Clibao attempted a Hail Mary takedown, quickly moving to his opponent’s back with his arm around his neck. After some movement, Ramos was able to sink in a rear-naked choke, allowing Joshua to complete not one but two miraculous submission escapes. Ramos rode out the rest of the round on his opponent’s back.
At the start of the second round, Clibao quickly went back to kicking the calf. Ramos landed a kick to the body and was able to quickly get out of range of the counter. A minute into the round, Ramos checked in with another leg kick. Clibao landed another leg kick, then transitioned to an upper punch, which landed. Joshua pushed Ramos back to the fence and went back to kicking the calf. Ricardo collapsed like a lawn chair, and Clibao landed a flurry of kicks to the body of his grounded opponent. Clibao circled around and continued to land punches, hoping to land some on his opponent’s head.
With 90 seconds left in the round, Joshua had the referee stand Ramos up. Joshua began to chase his opponent, teasing a missed strike with a pirouette seconds later. With 30 seconds left in the round, Clibao was poked in the eye, briefly stopping the fight. When the fight resumed, Ramos landed long strikes to protect his injured leg. He was able to finish the round without taking any more significant hits.
At the start of the final round, Ramos caught a kick and boxed to push Curivao back. Joshua quickly returned to land a right hand and poked Ricardo’s body with a teep. Ramos tried to land a boxing combination, but his reduced mobility made it difficult to land a boxing combination against Curivao, who dodged and feinted. Ramos tried to land a few knees in the clinch, but Joshua countered with short punches to the body. In the middle of the round, Ramos landed a few punch combinations to the head of a retreating Ramos. Ricardo began to tire a little on his legs, then he was hit by a leg kick. With 90 seconds left in the round, Ramos was able to jump onto his opponent’s back after he missed a strike and left him defenseless. With 30 seconds left in the bout, Ramos transitioned into Curivao’s guard and landed some struggling short strikes just before the final time expired.
As the score was read out, Ramos took to the field in front of the two officials and Clibao was in disbelief.
Official result: Ricardo Ramos defeats Josh Curivao via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
