Mauricio Ruffy's right moves ironically led to KO loss against Arman Tsarukyan at UFC 331, per MMA referee

Mauricio Ruffy was believed to be on the cusp of his maiden UFC title shot earlier this month. The Brazilian striking savant faced grappling maestro Arman Tsarukyan in a deemed UFC lightweight title eliminator matchup, which co-headlined UFC 331 in Los Angeles on September 19. 

He appeared to catch Tsarukyan with a stinging right hand that caused swelling near his eye, in addition to doing well in defending the skilled wrestler's takedown attempts. Nevertheless, Ruffy ended up getting knocked out cold by an elbow Tsarukyan threw while they were in the clinch, grappling against the Octagon fence. 

"The Batman" unleashed another elbow for good measure and won the fight via first-round KO. Veteran MMA referee John McCarthy, akin to many other experts, has chimed in on the scary knockout -- seemingly empathizing with Ruffy. 

"Big" John McCarthy points out the irony in Mauricio Ruffy suffering a KO defeat despite making the right moves against Arman Tsarukyan

In a recent edition of the Weighing In podcast, "Big" John McCarthy and former UFC lightweight Josh Thomson alluded to Mauricio Ruffy's decent performance in his losing effort at UFC 331. 

McCarthy drew attention to how "calm" Ruffy was in the high-profile showdown. The pioneering MMA referee suggested that Ruffy's calmness -- something that's ideal for a professional fighter in a combat sports contest -- ironically proved to be his undoing. 

Speaking of which, McCarthy stated, "He (Mauricio Ruffy) never ever made the big mistake, you know, did something that was gonna put him in a bad spot. He used the cage as a balance point, which is exactly what you wanna do. He did everything right, except getting hit in the eye socket with an elbow." 

John McCarthy believes Mauricio Ruffy's elbow strike reminded Arman Tsarukyan to use the maneuver at UFC 331

John McCarthy further brought up Mauricio Ruffy's striking from the fight, recalling that the Brazilian combatant threw an elbow against Arman Tsarukyan. He implied that Ruffy's elbow, incidentally, reminded Tsarukyan that he ought to throw some elbow strikes of his own. 

McCarthy, as such, underscored yet another ironic aspect of the fight, saying, "He basically talked to Arman when he threw an elbow at Arman. And it touched him. And it was, like, hey, you're forgetting about these." 

The gruesome knockout defeat aside, Mauricio Ruffy is still counted by many as one of the most innovative and skillful strikers in the UFC lightweight division, and many foresee him rebounding strongly. 

Meanwhile, Arman Tsarukyan and the legions of his fans have been campaigning for him to be granted a UFC lightweight title shot against reigning champion Justin Gaethje, who's apparently been rather ambiguous about his MMA future. 

Watch John McCarthy assess the elbow finish in Arman Tsarukyan vs. Mauricio Ruffy below: