Rivalries: Raphael Assuncao

Raphael Assuncao, for the first time as a professional, finds himself teetering on the brink of irrelevance in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

The 39-year-old Brazilian will attempt to snap out of a troubling tailspin when he confronts Ricky Simon in a UFC Fight Night 199 bantamweight showcase on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Assuncao enters the cage on a three-fight losing streak. He last appeared at UFC 250, where he was on the receiving end of a savage one-punch knockout from Cody Garbrandt on June 6, 2020. The setback dropped his UFC record to 11-5.

As Assuncao makes final preparations for his forthcoming battle with Simon, a look at some of the rivalries that have helped shape his career:

Urijah Faber

The former World Extreme Cagefighting champion righted his ship after a second loss to Mike Thomas Brown and dispatched Assuncao with a rear-naked choke in the third round of their WEC 46 co-main event on Jan. 10, 2010 at ARCO Arena in Sacramento, California. Assuncao conceded defeat 3:49 into Round 3, where he was submitted for the first time as a professional. After a tightly contested first round, Faber seized the reins in the second. There, he threatened Assuncao with a tight guillotine choke, returned to his feet when the submission attempt failed and floored the Brazilian with an overhand right. The Ascension MMA rep recovered, but the tone of the match had been changed—and permanently so. Faber decked him again in Round 3, gave him room to stand, jumped to his back and bit down on the fight-ending choke.

T.J. Dillashaw

The former bantamweight champion avenged a prior defeat to Assuncao and cruised to a three-round unanimous decision in their UFC 200 rematch on July 9, 2016 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Dillashaw swept the scorecards with identical 30-27 marks from the judges. Assuncao held his own in the standup exchanges but lacked the speed and skill necessary to deal with the onetime titleholder’s footwork and movement. Dillashaw picked apart the Brazilian from the outside, integrating kicks to the legs, body and head with two-, three- and four-punch combinations. By the time the second and third rounds arrived, Assuncao was bleeding heavily from the nose and mouth. Dillashaw put an exclamation point on his latest victory, as he landed a tactical takedown in the final minute. The setback snapped Assuncao’s seven-fight winning streak.

Aljamain Sterling

Assuncao escaped with a contentious split decision over the Serra-Longo Fight Team export in a UFC on Fox 23 undercard showdown on Jan. 28, 2017 at the Pepsi Center in Denver. All three cageside judges scored it 29-28: Ron Mann and Ben Ramirez for the Brazilian, Hale Hilsabeck for Sterling. Neither fighter seemed eager to lead the dance, which resulted in periods of inactivity and a restless crowd. Sterling stayed busy with kicks to the legs and body, even as his opponent returned fire with punches upstairs. Assuncao countered effectively for much of the match, but, as has been the case throughout his career, he struggled to generate output. Sterling exploited that opening in the third round, where he landed with more regularity, pressured the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt by moving forward and uncorked simple but effective two-punch combinations. Nevertheless, the scorecards favored Assuncao.

Rob Font

Assuncao was a step ahead on the feet and on the ground, as he took a unanimous decision from Team Sityodtong’s Font in a UFC 226 prelim on July 7, 2018 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. All three judges arrived at the same verdict, casting 30-27 scorecards for the Brazilian. Font ran into difficulty from the start. Assuncao sat down his counterpart with a clean one-two inside the first five minutes and continued to build his lead. He popped Font with leg kicks and sneaky counters while incorporating takedowns in the second and third rounds. Once in top position, the longtime Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt cut loose with punches, elbows and forearm strikes. Font grew more and more tentative as the fight progressed, becoming less and less of a factor as a result.

Marlon Moraes

The former World Series of Fighting champion avenged his controversial 2017 decision defeat to Assuncao in stunning fashion, as he submitted the Atlanta-based Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt with a mounted guillotine choke in the first round of their UFC Fight Night 144 headliner on Feb. 2, 2019 at Centro de Formacao Olimpica do Nordeste in Fortaleza, Brazil. Assuncao tapped out 3:17 into Round 1, where his four-fight winning streak grinded to an unceremonious halt. “Magic Marlon” hammered Assuncao with a pair of overhand rights—the first one dazed him, the second one floored him—and trailed him to the canvas. Once there, Moraes applied his ground-and-pound, snatched the guillotine and rolled to a mounted position for the finish. It was a stellar performance.