The Film Room: Raphael Assuncao

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Raphael Assuncao returns to the Octagon this weekend for a rematch against Marlon Moraes, with the winner likely earning themselves a championship opportunity. The two had an extremely close fight in 2017 that saw Assuncao take home a controversial split decision victory, and now he has the chance to silence the critics and earn a title shot.



Assuncao has been one of the most underrated and underappreciated fighters in the Ultimate Fighting Championship for years now and after nearly a decade with the company, he finally gets his chance to fight for a title shot. He’s a patient and precise striker who generally likes to work on the counter, but he will also mix in leading attacks to keep opponents guessing. He usually fights orthodox but will throw in the occasional stance change and seems just as comfortable as a southpaw. Something to note about his counters is how he often goes with a two- or three-strike combo instead of a single precision strike. This allows him to simultaneously work in his leading attacks with his counter striking style and adds to his unpredictability.



Assuncao is one of the finest defensively responsible fighters on the roster and it shows in his leading attacks. He rarely throws more than three strikes before resetting, and in his 13 fights with the UFC we have yet to see him in a wild brawl.



The Brazilian tends to rely on the basics and rarely uses any flashy techniques. The one unorthodox technique he does use is this jumping knee that helps set up his boxing. He’s used this his entire UFC career, but in his last fight with Matthew Lopez, he was able to finish the fight with a right hook after confusing his opponent with the knee.



If you’re wondering why fans and media have been touting Assuncao as the most underrated fighter in the UFC, the above video is all you need to see. Here he shoulder bumps under Pedro Munhoz’s jab to initiate the clinch before pushing him off and circling to his right. Then when they reset in punching range, Assuncao feints a few jabs to get Munhoz to fire one back. Once the Ascension MMA product sees the jab coming, he fakes the shoulder bump that Munhoz is expecting, and comes back up with a short uppercut that lands clean. Being able to use tricks like this to draw reactions out of opponents and then work off those reactions is, in my opinion, the highest level of skill in combat sports and very few fighters have had this level of continuous success with it.



Since this is a rematch, we will be looking for adjustments from both men. In the first fight, Assuncao had success with doubling up on the jab and throwing the right hand after. Anytime he threw a single set up strike, Moraes was able to easily avoid it and circle away, but the double jab was throwing him off all night.



We haven’t seen much grappling from Assuncao since joining the UFC, but he’s a black belt in jiu-jitsu and started off his career as a submission specialist. Of his 27 wins, 10 are via submission with nine of them coming in his first 12 fights. He only has one submission victory since joining the UFC in 2010, but since the first fight with Moraes was so close, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him rely on his superior grappling to get things done.