Davi Ramos will now be facing Ali Abdulkhalikov in the opening round of the Absolute Championship Akhmat lightweight grand prix in the main event of ACA 176 on May 31st, 2024. This fight will serve as the last quarter-final match of the promotion’s lightweight grand prix and it will set the winner up with a fight against the promotion’s reigning lightweight champion, Abdul-Aziz Abdulvakhabov. He knocked out the interim champion Mukhamed Kokov in the first match of the tournament at the end last year, making his second successful title-defense in his current run as champion and unifying the title for the second time in his career.
The other semi-final is already set and former champion Ali Bagov is facing Herdeson Batista after both men won their opening round fights. Ramos will have to get through RIZIN FF veteran Abdulkhalikov first before he makes it to the next round and earns a shot at the promotion’s title though, and that won’t be an easy fight at all. Although Davi Ramos is an ADCC world champion with a stint in the UFC to his name, Abdulkhalikov is a well-rounded fighter with good striking so he will likely be a tough opponent for him at ACA 176. Abdulkhalikov holds a respectable 13-2 professional MMA record and has been competing since 2013, with 8 amateur fights under his belt as well.
Ramos competed for Bellator and a number of different regional MMA promotions from 2010 to 2016, putting together a 6-1 professional record and eventually drawing the attention of the UFC. He went 4-3 over the next four years and requested his release from the UFC at that point, which was when he made the move to ACA. Ramos lost his promotional debut in the opening round of their 2022 lightweight grand prix, but he bounced back with a pair of wins in 2023 and he’s now coming into this fight with Abdulkhalikov with a respectable 12-5 record.
Absolute Championship Akhmat announced the news that Davi Ramos will face Ali Abdulkhalikov in the opening round of the lightweight grand prix at ACA 176 in a recent post to their official Instagram account:
