During their training camp before UFC 325, Alexander Volkanovski and Mauricio Ruffy spent a lot of time together.
Ahead of his UFC 325 clash against Rafael Fiziev, the exciting Brazilian striker, well-known for being part of the popular ‘Fighting Nerds’, chose to change his fight camp.
Ruffy needed a win in Sydney to stay ranked after his rough loss to Benoit Saint-Denis.
And that is exactly what he did. The 29-year-old put on a strong display and stopped Fiziev in the second round.
Alexander Volkanovski shares that Mauricio Ruffy battled the flu during fight week
Even though he has strong ties to the ‘Fighting Nerds’, Ruffy realised after his defeat to Saint-Denis that he needed a change if he was going to get back on track.
He decided to spend his training camp in Australia with UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski, who was preparing for his main event against Diego Lopes. The move paid off, as Ruffy looked sharp going into his fight.
But things did not go smoothly behind the scenes. Volkanovski later explained that fans were fortunate just to see the 29-year-old make it to the Octagon, highlighting several hurdles the Brazilian had to overcome during camp.
‘The Great’ said during the post-fight press conference: “Man, Ruffy, you know what I will tell you all something, I don’t even know if you know, I knew Rafa vs Ruffy was going to be an incredible fight but put it this way, we’re lucky that Ruffy even turned up this week.
“If you knew half the stuff he went through, he had influenza like legit influenza at the start of the week like crazy fevers, I didn’t even know if he was going to be able to do the weight cut so we had to mentally get him through that.
“Then he had some troubles even (on fight day), big troubles, he couldn’t move but I told him he’s just got to mentally get himself in there, got himself around it and then was able to go and do what he does against someone like Rafa, incredible man. A lot of respect for him to even turn up tonight.”
What is next for Mauricio Ruffy?
Ruffy’s win not only helped him stay in the lightweight rankings, but he might also move into the top 10 with this week’s update.
Going into the fight, Fiziev was ranked ninth, while the Brazilian star was sitting just outside the top 10 at 14th.
With that strong showing against Ataman, there is talk of Ruffy moving up to face a top-eight opponent next. Mateusz Gamrot could be a sensible option.
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