Mauricio Ruffy is speaking in depth for the first time since his UFC 331 defeat Saturday, and he's placing any and all blame on one man only: himself.
In the UFC 331 co-main event, Ruffy (14-3 MMA, 5-2 UFC) was violently knocked out at the end of Round 1 by Arman Tsarukyan
at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. The win earned Tsarukyan (24-3 MMA, 11-2 UFC) a title shot and snapped a two-fight winning streak for Ruffy.On Wednesday, Ruffy released a lengthy video in Portuguese, as he broke down his game plan heading into the fight and detailed the error he thinks cost him the fight.
Ruffy said he purposely ran toward Tsarukyan's strengths, as a way to prove to himself that he was elite and worthy.
"I arrived so confident in the fight that I wanted to
go through everything for the first time, to knock out the fight in the first round," Ruffy said. "I wanted to overcome the things inside my head that I had, sometimes by influence of (other) people – so much talking. Also, I wanted to prove myself that I was fine. So I wanted to defend all the takedowns and I didn't want to knock out the fight fast. I wanted to get out of there a better fighter. I say the 'better' meaning going through situations not only to bring clarity to people, but for myself, how much I am ready to do this. I know I'm ready. But knowing is not all you need to prove to yourself that you're ready. I was 100 percent focused on performing in passing all possible situations and have an answer for them all."
Watching the fight back, Ruffy said he thinks his game plan was on point up until its dramatic and sudden ending. His plan was to wear Tsarukyan down by stuffing takedowns and landing strikes as he was able to, eventually gassing the Armenian and taking the fight with increased aggression. Tsarukyan was fazed by a couple of Ruffy punches early in the round, including one that caused substantial swelling under his left eye.
But moments after the 10-second clacker sounded, Tsarukyan landed a pair of violent elbows that left Ruffy unconscious with his eyes open on the canvas. Ruffy said the fatal error he made was prioritizing offense over defense in the final seconds in an effort to show the judges he could escape from Tsarukyan's clutches once again.
"He got flash-knocked down by the very first attack I landed," Ruffy said. "He already had a flash-down. I could feel it then and there. I felt the fight in my control and when he got flashed, that I felt his strength was breaking. I saw how much he felt when I hit one elbow at the tip of his rib when he was defending the fall. So he was hurt, his eye very closed. I would get a lot of hands up there and I knew I was going to, I was sure I would finish the fight in the second round. An important thing to say is that the mistake was totally mine. It was my fault. It was my carelessness and to his merit, Arman, he is an excellent fighter. When the guys say I'm 10 seconds out and he got into my leg. It was the best thing for me. I thought he will spend a little more energy here. The second round will start and I'll knock him out. So for me, it was the best decision. He got onto my leg. There were four seconds left. So I had strikes to make. I could get off the cage but I didn't want to. I wanted to use that moment against him and it was a good idea. I just neglected myself. I relaxed on defense which I don't normally do, so I paid the price for it."
Ruffy, 30, vowed to come back better than ever. Saturday's bout was only his seventh in the promotion, and he's already established himself as a contender. There's room to grow, and Ruffy plans to show that by fighting the toughest challenge available whenever it's time for him to return.
"In victory, we will be celebrating victory. In a loss, we are living in the lessons of defeat," Ruffy said. "But that doesn't make me happier than I already am when, as soon as this moment passes everything ends and what you do every day. It's how you wake up, how you live, how you feel in here. Truly guys, thanks for the support. I am very well. I'm so happy Jesus makes me happy 100 percent. Now, I will seek to improve and evolve. I will train more. I will train much more. The guys waiting for me there, I don't want an easy fight. I want to fight the best in the world. I want to show that I have the ability to beat the best in the world in a very good way. So I am going to dedicate myself to it if I'm going to work a lot. Thank you very much for your support. May God bless you. Wait for me. I'm coming back to this game with everything I have."
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Mauricio Ruffy explains where things went sideways at UFC 331 vs. Arman Tsarukyan
