Mauricio Ruffy Blames Himself for UFC 331 Defeat Against Arman Tsarukyan

Mauricio Ruffy broke his silence after his devastating UFC 331 loss and accepted that the defeat was the result of his own wrongdoing. The Brazilian lightweight emphasized that he was doing everything right in the initial minutes of the fight until things went south in a moment due to his own fault. But he took nothing away from Arman Tsarukyan for his incredible victory 

Mauricio Ruffy Praises Arman Tsarukyan While Highlighting His Flaws Leading to the Loss

Ruffy began his UFC 331 fight against Tsarukyan on a smooth note, managing the distance effectively and popping the Armenian with clean strikes. One of them caused severe swelling around Tsarukyan's left eye. The Brazilian also did a commendable job of defending his opponent's takedown attempts with the help of the cage despite Tsarukyan's high-level wrestling.

However, things went terribly wrong in the final seconds of the first round as Tsarukyan disengaged momentarily and landed a vicious elbow that KO'd Ruffy with just four seconds left on the clock.

Ruffy shared an Instagram video on September 24, where he revealed that he could even see a finish in the second round, considering the way the first round was playing out. The Brazilian said, "When I got that flash knockdown and felt his strength starting to fade. I felt the fight in my control. And when he got flash knocked down, I felt that his strength was breaking. I saw how much he felt it when I hit one elbow at the tip of the rib when he was defending a reversal. So he was hurt; his eye was very closed. I would get a lot of punches up there, and I was sure I would finish the fight in the second round."

But given that the fight didn't go the way he predicted, Ruffy blamed his "carelessness" for the debacle, while also appreciating Tsarukyan's pedigree. He stated, "An important thing to say is that the mistake was totally mine. It was my fault, my carelessness, and his merit. Arman is an excellent fighter."

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Maurício Ruffy (@ruffy_mma)

Ruffy dived even deeper and mentioned the exact mental frame that led to him getting knocked out by Tsarukyan's elbow. "There were four seconds left, so I had strikes I could have thrown. I could have gotten away from the fence, but I didn’t want to," said the Brazilian lightweight. I wanted to use that moment against him, and it was a good idea. I just got careless. I relaxed—relaxed on defense, which is what I normally don’t do. So I paid the price for that."

However, Ruffy accepted his UFC 331 loss sportingly despite admitting that it wasn't easy to deal with it. He also saw its bright side and mentioned how such experiences can help an individual "grow."

Ruffy endured his first UFC loss against Benoit Saint-Denis at UFC Paris in September 2025. Nevertheless, he made a strong comeback to win his next two fights before his UFC 331 defeat. So, while it can be safely said that the Brazilian has enough skills to forge another similar return, it will be interesting to see if he actually manages to make it a reality.