Ricardo Ramos wants to welcome back Sean O’Malley

Ricardo Ramos had one of the greatest knockouts of the year in 2017, but hasn’t been scheduled to fight since.

“Carcacinha” stopped Aiemann Zahabi with a spinning back elbow at UFC 217 last November, earning a “Performance of the Night” bonus at Madison Square Garden, but his requests for fights haven’t been met.

Now training alongside the likes of Urijah Faber and Cody Garbrandt over at Team Alpha Male in California, Ramos says he’s ready to take on anyone in the bantamweight division.

”I work hard to become champion,” Ramos told MMA Fighting. “I’m here to be the No. 1, and I will win the bantamweight title. This time off doesn’t help me, that can’t happen, but nothing will stop me.”

With a 2-0 record since joining the UFC in 2017, Ramos is interested in a fight with bantamweight sensation Sean O’Malley, who is also 2-0 in the UFC after making the transition from Dana White’s Contender Series.

”He has a creative style standing and on the ground, that ‘sugar show,’ but I would put pressure on him on the ground,” Ramos said of O’Malley, who recently defeated Andre Soukhamthath atUFC 222.

”He goes there to put on a show, I go there to submit. When he does his thing he gives a lot of openings, and I would take advantage of that to submit him. I wouldn’t be afraid to trade with him on the feet, too. I can easily go there and brawl.”

O’Malley will be sidelined for awhile due to a foot injury sustained in his fight with Soukhamthath, though, so Ramos has other names in mind for his return to action: Rob Font,Thomas Almeida and Bryan Caraway.

Font and Almeida just fought in January, with Font winning via second-round TKO, and Caraway recently lost a split decision to Cody Stamann at UFC 222.

”The UFC is going to New York on April 7 with UFC 223, and that would be the perfect opportunity for me to get back in the cage,” Ramos said. “I don’t think Sean O’Malley would be able to fight that date because of his foot injury, but I want to fight as soon as possible, so that card would be great.

”I can easily fight at featherweight if there’s no one available at bantamweight,” he added. “I’d fight at 145 too, no problem.”