Oh, the drama that unfolded last weekend! Mauricio Ruffy didn’t just throw words into the wind after his fight. Nope. He had his sights set on a giant – UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev.
Why, you ask? Well, Ruffy had a point to prove. He told Sherdog.com, “Since I beat his best sparring partner, Raimond Magomedaliev, in a higher weight class on the Contender Series, I thought it was a good moment to make a statement.” Bold move, right? Especially considering Magomedaliev’s rep as a tough cookie. Before Ruffy, he took down Impa Kasangany, the 2023 PFL light heavyweight champ. And that guy fights three divisions above!
Ruffy’s no stranger to dropping high-profile fighters’ sparring partners. Last year, he knocked out Corneliu Lascar Rotaru in the first round. Fun fact: Rotaru trains with none other than Conor McGregor.
Here’s a kicker. “A few months before receiving the invitation to the Contender Series, I broke my left hand,” Ruffy shared. Despite that, he faced Ronys Torres in the Centurion FC Grand Prix finals. Using just his hips and footwork, he defended all takedown attempts and secured a knockout in the second round. Talk about a challenge!
But Ruffy knows he’s got more to prove. He’s eyeing Bobby Green as his next opponent. “I think in my Octagon debut I was able to prove I’m on a different level,” he said, confident after knocking out a 10-fight UFC veteran in the first round.
He’s hoping for a fight with Green because, in his words, “it would be a war.” Ruffy believes their styles would clash spectacularly, predicting a knockout in the first round. Talk about confidence!