UFC lightweight contender Mauricio Ruffy issued a statement following his brutal KO loss to Arman Tsarukyan at UFC 331.
After defending several of Tsarukyan’s takedown attempts in the first round and making things interesting, Ruffy was on the receiving end of a brutal elbow and follow-up punches that knocked him out cold with just four seconds in the first round.
Now, several days later, Ruffy has broken his silence on what went wrong.
Mauricio Ruffy’s Statement on UFC 331
Speaking in a video posted to his Instagram, Ruffy shared a lengthy statement about his loss to Tsarukyan at UFC 331.
“He got flash-knocked down by the very first attack I landed,. 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,” Ruffy said (via MMAjunkie.com)/.
“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.”
Don’t Count Out Mauricio Ruffy
While things did not go well for Ruffy against Tsarukyan, as the end result was him waking up to a doctor’s flashlight, he is still one of the top lightweights in the UFC and arguably the most dangerous striker in the division.
Tsarukyan is one of the best fighters in the world, so there is absolutely no shame in losing to him. While the fashion in which Ruffy got finished was obviously a tough look for the Brazilian, he’s still one of the best lightweights in the sport, and he still has a chance to bounce back and get back to where he was before this loss.
Given the brutality of this defeat, look for Ruffy to take the rest of 2026 off and then return somewhere in the first or second quarter of 2027 against another top-ranked lightweight as he looks to get back on track following this absolutely devastating defeat to Tsarukyan at UFC 331.
Mauricio Ruffy Issues Statement Following UFC 331 KO Loss