It was a mistake.
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Lightweight knockout artist Mauricio Ruffy suffered a first-round stoppage loss to No. 1 title contender Arman Tsarukyan in UFC 331’s co-main event this past weekend (Sat., Sept. 19, 2026) inside Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California (watch highlights).
Ruffy found success against Tsarukyan for as long as the fight lasted, even appearing to hurt the Russian contender during an early exchange. Unfortunately for the Brazilian, one momentary
lapse in concentration allowed Tsarukyan to crush him with a brutal elbow in the final seconds of the opening round.
Four days after the knockout loss, Ruffy addressed the disappointing result on social media.
“First, I want to thank God for my life and my health,” Ruffy said in Portuguese. “I am in perfect health. I feel 100 percent. I also want to thank all of you for the love and support. I received so many amazing messages. I haven’t read all of them yet because there were so many, but I truly felt supported and embraced by all of you.”
“I received the call a little more than six weeks out — exactly six weeks and four days — and I dedicated everything I had to this training camp. I know it may seem like a short amount of time, but I felt ready to fight anyone. I was doing great and felt confident. I stayed away from my family and pushed through several difficult situations. There were days when my body couldn’t take any more, but I kept going.”
“I entered the fight so confident that I wanted to experience everything. I didn’t want a quick first-round knockout. I wanted to overcome some of the things inside my head and prove to myself that I was ready. I wanted to defend his takedowns and leave there as a better fighter. I wanted to go through those difficult situations and prove to myself how prepared I was.”
“After the flash knockdown, I felt his strength beginning to fade and believed the fight was under my control. I hit him with an elbow to the ribs while he was defending a reversal, and I saw how much it hurt him. His eye was closing, I was landing punches, and I was certain I would finish the fight in the second round.”
“It is important to say that the mistake was completely mine. It was my fault and my carelessness, but it was also his merit. Arman is an excellent fighter.”
“When my corner yelled that there were ten seconds remaining and he shot for my legs, I thought that was the best possible thing for me. I thought, ‘He’s going to spend more energy here, the second round will begin, and then I’ll knock him out.’”
“There were four seconds left. I could have thrown strikes or moved away from the fence, but I didn’t want to. I wanted to use that moment against him, and it was a good idea. I simply got careless. I relaxed defensively, which is something I normally don’t do, and I paid the price.”
“So I want to apologize to my fans for the sadness of the loss. I know it’s not easy to root for someone through a defeat, but guys, I’m learning. You’ve seen the evolution of each fight, and this fight was going very well. But I’m happy for everything that happened. It’s difficult to deal with loss and all that, but it makes us grow.”
Props to Ruffy for taking full accountability. In a sport overflowing with excuses, it is honestly refreshing to hear a fighter admit that he made a costly mistake while still giving his opponent credit.
Nevertheless, Ruffy’s recent record is becoming difficult to ignore. The 30-year-old Brazilian is now 2-2 across his last four appearances, with both defeats coming by stoppage.
Before UFC 331, Ruffy had rebounded with consecutive knockout victories over Michael Chandler at UFC Freedom 250 (watch it) and Rafael Fiziev at UFC 325 (watch highlights).
He remains ranked No. 10 at 155 pounds, so a matchup against fellow all-action finisher Quillan Salkilld could make plenty of sense in early 2027.
For complete UFC 331 results, coverage and highlights click HERE.
