Mauricio Ruffy Claims Arman Tsarukyan Saved Himself From a Round 2 Knockout

At UFC 331, Joshua Van headlined the card and defended his flyweight title in dominant fashion against Alexandre Pantoja, but the talk of the town became Arman Tsarukyan knocking out Mauricio Ruffy. Coming into the fight, the Armenian was the favorite, but given Ruffy had a dreamy start, it felt like he was going to upset Tsarukyan. However, in the final seconds, the Armenian flipped the script and delivered a knockout.

And now, talking about the fight, the Brazilian has stated that he was in a great position and, had he continued controlling the fight, he would have surely knocked out Tsarukyan in the second round, but the finish saved him.

Mauricio Ruffy Says He Would’ve Knocked Out Arman Tsarukyan in Round 2

For those who missed the fight, Ruffy started well, landing hard kicks and a right hand that dropped Tsarukyan to his knees. Later, the Armenian recovered and took the fight to the cage, but he defended the takedowns well. However, with less than 10 seconds left in the round, ‘The Batman’ landed a clean elbow combination that knocked Ruffy out at 4:56.

Addressing the loss, Ruffy said he felt like he was winning the fight. He could see that Tsarukyan was hurt and his eye was starting to close. Because of that, Ruffy thought he would finish ‘The Batman’ in the second round.

“I could feel it. I felt the fight in my control. I felt his strength was breaking, he was hurt, his eye was closed. I was sure I'd finish the fight in the 2nd round,” Ruffy stated.

Additionally, as per the Brazilian, he got careless with only a few seconds left and paid for it. Ruffy took full blame for the loss, praised Tsarukyan, and said he will learn and come back stronger. “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,” in his words.

Arman Tsarukyan Says Mauricio Ruffy Couldn’t Beat Him Anywhere

On the other hand, Tsarukyan said Ruffy could not beat him anywhere in the fight. He believes he could have submitted him in the second round or finished him by TKO in the third. Notably, he also called Ruffy the best striker in the division but said MMA is different because wrestling changes the fight.

“I think Ruffy is the best striker in our division right now… MMA is different. You can bring the best striker, show him wrestling and knock him out because he’s going to focus on the wrestling,” Ruffy said.

Meanwhile, Ruffy will now focus on getting back into the win column and returning to the title race. While Tsarukyan might finally fight for the title next.