Davi Ramos says Anderson Silva helped break down UFC 224 opponent Nick Hein

Davi Ramos had special counseling ahead of his UFC 224 clash with Nick Hein on May 12 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

A decorated grappler, Ramos scored his first victory under the UFC banner in December, submitting Chris Gruetzemacher with a third-round rear-naked choke. Now, back in action on Saturday, Ramos spent time training with UFC legend Anderson Silva, who visited Rio de Janeiro for two weeks during Ramos’ training camp.

”It’s so cool, man,” Ramos told MMA Fighting. “Having Anderson around and picking his brain was amazing. Anderson is like an encyclopedia, it’s great to have him here helping us out. He stayed two weeks with us and we trained every day. He gave me great tips, we sat down and watched my opponent’s fights and my training footage, the mistakes I make in the striking area.

”He helped me a lot, gave me incredible advice that I can’t get out of my head. That will make a huge difference in the fight. It’s not the first time we trained together, I was his sparring partner for the Chris Weidman fight, but I was too inexperienced back then. I’m more experienced now and can understand the things he says.”

“The Spider” even asked Ramos to put on footage of his fights and training to see where he should work on to evolve as a striker.

”He literally watched all of Nick Hein’s fights and also my fights,” Ramos said. “It was very interesting. He said, ‘Davi, put your fights here so we can watch you fight.’ He wanted to watch me in action and see what I should do in order to get to the positions I wanted. He’s sensational.”

With the support of a high-level striker like Anderson Silva assisting his stand-up skills, Ramos also had Team Nogueira leader Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira’s help on the ground.

“‘Minotauro’ is a legend,” Ramos said. “Thank God I have these people by my side and they believe a lot in me. It’s cool when someone like them believe in you, and I believe more in myself now. I still have a lot to conquer, but I’m sure I will become champion in this division.”

After studying Hein’s fights alongside Silva, Ramos sees a few similarities and key differences between them.

”Nick is dangerous in close range,” Ramos said. “We’re both short fighters, but unlike me, he doesn’t go too much for the finish. I try to finish the fight the entire time, and he likes to counter.

”If I take you down, I have a 99-percent chance to submit you or anyone in this division. Anyone, even the champion. That’s how I see myself winning this fight, taking him down and submitting.”

In the lead-up to his UFC 224 clash with Hein, Ramos put the gi on to defend his ACBJJ belt, defeating Edwin Najmi in a five-round jiu-jitsu match.

“That helped me already start this camp with better cardio,” he said.

Speaking of grappling, Ramos was unhappy with his performance coming out of his last UFC fight despite the fact that he tapped Gruetzemacher. After watching Gruetzemacher run through Joe Lauzon in April, he changed his mind about his win.

”I overtrained for that fight, and this guy is really tough, man,” Ramos said. “He put a beating on Joe Lauzon now. He can take a beating and never quits. I beat him up and he kept coming forward, and I got tired. I didn’t understand why I got tired, but watching his fight with Lauzon, I realized that I wasn’t fighting an easy opponent. You punch him and he keeps coming forward like a robot. That was a wake-up call: ‘You’re doing well, so keep working hard.’”