Kyler Phillips out, Raphael Assuncao now meets Davey Grant at UFC FN 221
We’ve got some very exciting bouts going down at UFC Fight Night 221, headlined by top bantamweight contenders in no. 2 ranked former champion Petr Yan (16-4) and no. 3 ranked Merab Dvalishvili (15-4), and co-headlined by former Bellator & M-1 Global heavyweight champion Alexander Volkov (35-10), who faces former EFC heavyweight champion Alexander Romanov (16-1) at this event.
No. 14 ranked bantamweight contender and former AFC bantamweight champion Said Nurmagomedov (17-2) also faces former XFL flyweight champion Jonathan Martinez (17-4) earlier on the card, both parties of which come in on four-fight win streaks.
Another good match up scheduled for this event comes to us because of a recent cancellation, as Kyler Phillips (10-2) withdrew from his upcoming clash opposing longtime bantamweight staple Raphael Assuncao (28-9) for undisclosed reasons.
Phillips was recently replaced by Assuncao’s new opponent, The Ultimate Fighter 18 finalist and former SNA bantamweight champion Davey Grant (14-6), which is arguably a more enticing match up depending on who you ask.
Assuncao was for the longest time the dark horse of the 135 lb division.
There was a point the Brazilian contender went 11-1 through 12 bouts over the course of seven years, and he’s tied with former champions TJ Dillashaw and Renan Barao for the second-longest win streak in UFC bantamweight history (7), just behind Merab Dvalishvili and UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling, who both have eight.
What’s more, Assuncao defeated Aljamain Sterling (SD) in this time; he defeated TJ Dillashaw (SD), former multi-time WSOF bantamweight champion and UFC title challenger Marlon Moraes (SD), as well as fellow longtime top contenders Pedro Munhoz (UD) and Rob Font (UD).
What’s unfortunate is the fact that he was never given his shot to fight for the title. He was expected to face Renan Barao for the UFC bantamweight championship back in 2014 but was forced out of the contest with a rib injury in the weeks leading up, ultimately leaving TJ Dillashaw to fight for, and win the title on short notice.
Since that 11-1 run however, Assuncao was handed four-straight defeats against the likes of Marlon Moraes (guillotine choke) in their rematch, Cory Sandhagen (UD), former bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt (KO), and current top ten talent Ricky Simon (KO), before getting back to his winning ways last October with a win over Victor Henry (UD).
Davey Grant on the other hand had a bit of a rocky start to his UFC tenure.
Following defeat in his TUF 18 finale bout against Chris Holdsworth (rear naked choke), Grant wouldn’t fight again for over two years, where he eventually returned to defeat current no. 4 ranked Marlon Vera (UD).
Grant would fight just twice more over the next two and a half years, where he was submitted in both outings against Damian Stasiak (armbar) and Manny Bermudez (triangle choke).
A year and a half later and Grant would get back to his winning ways, picking up his first victory in nearly four years over Grigorii Popov (SD).
Grant wouldn’t sit out too long after this, winning his next two over the likes of Martin Day (KO) and Jonathan Martinez (KO), both of which awarded him Performance of the Night bonuses, before going into his rematch with Marlon Vera.
After a good first round for Grant, Vera would ultimately win the second and third, handing Grant a unanimous decision defeat. Grant then put on his second-straight Fight of the Night performance against Adrian Yanez, though he’d lose the bout via split decision.
At this point Grant had gotten performance bonuses in his last four-straight outings going into his bout with Louis Smolka in May of 2022, a fight he won via KO in round three.
37-year-old Davey Grant has dealt with so many injuries throughout his career, but he’s finally been able to remain relatively consistent over the last few years and it’s been great to see.
40-year-old Raphael Assuncao on the same hand has also had his fair share of bad luck, but he’s still at it, and he’s still to this day someone that’s difficult to look good against.
Both of these bantamweight talents are looking to make it two-straight come UFC FN 221, who ends up taking home the victory?
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