Mauricio Ruffy Shares Inspiration Behind Highlight-Reel Kick at UFC 313

Mauricio Ruffy had some special inspiration for the highlight-reel kick that dispatched Bobby Green at UFC 313.

In an interview with Sherdog.com, The Fighting Nerds representative confirmed that Brazilian soccer idol Neymar Junior motivated him to unleash that maneuver.

“Neymar always does a sequence of dribbling that confuses his oponents. I just thought how it could be applied in MMA, and that’s the movement I did with Green, a sequence of hand feints that confounded him and permitted the kick to enter,” Ruffy said. “I´ve been practicing that movement alone for a long time. I have to avoid using it in sparring because there is no way to control the speed, which may hurt my training partners.”

To make the move even more impressive, Ruffy revealed that he had to undergo an urgent meniscus surgery in January that prevented him from kicking until two weeks before UFC 313.

“It was at the limit,” he said. “I was just allowed to kick in the last week of the camp.”

The procedure occurred during the first week of January, when Alex Pereira was training with the Fighting Nerds camp. Ruffy didn’t think “Poatan” was at his best in the UFC 313 headliner, when he lost the title to Magomed Ankalaev.

“I think Alex was clearly out of rhythm, and I could feel that in the first minutes of the fight,” Ruffy said. “When you travel a lot and don’t sleep, your body responds. I truly believe that if he was 70%, he would have knocked out Ankalaev. And I truly believe he will get the KO in the rematch, even if it's in Abu Dhabi.”

Regarding the dominance of Dagestani fighters in MMA, Ruffy recalled his fight on Dana White's Contender Series against Raimond Magomedaliev.

“That was certainly the most difficult moment of my career,” Ruffy recalled. “I was invited on short notice to fight in a higher weight class, in front of Dana White against the guy the lightweight champion pointed to as his best sparring partner and future welterweight champion.”

To make things worse, two days before the trip his wife gave birth to their first baby and had postpartum complications.

“It was really hard, the baby was supposed to come after the fight,” Ruffy said. “Also it was my first trip to the United States.”

The pressure only intensified once Ruffy arrived in Las Vegas.

"I remember people in [the UFC Performance Institute] asking, ‘Are you the guy who will fight Magomedaliev? Good luck.’ But I replied, ‘He is the one who will need luck.’ Actually the turning point for me is that even not being in UFC, I’ve always trained for the champions — first [Conor] McGregor, later Khabib [Nurmagomedov] and then Islam [Makhachev],” Ruffy said. “I studied a lot of their wrestling game and with the help of my trainer, Flavio Alvaro, created a way to anticipate the takedowns. You can see in the fight that Magomedaliev tried, but found out it was better to let go in order to not get tired.”

Ruffy finished the most difficult fight of his life via TKO in the third round, impressing White and earning a UFC contract. Ruffy revealed that The Fighting Nerds will soon have a Dagestani wrestler working with them in camp.

“He is already in Brazil and already trained with us,” Ruffy said. “Most important to me will be understanding every movement they do. Where they place their hands, how they think. Once we understand that, it will help us a lot.”

Asked about how he sees a fight with Makhachev today, Mauricio was not shy about his prediction.”

“I know what to do to beat Makhachev, and I think about that everyday. After fighting Magomedaliev for three rounds, studying a lot of Khabib´s game and seeing Islam vs Poirier, I have some certainties,” he said. “Those guys are really strong in the two first rounds. You must be a specialist in not being submitted in the first rounds. Once I avoid that, he will have a hard time striking with me in the third, fourth and fifth rounds.”

While Beneil Dariush shot down Ruffy’s post-fight callout at UFC 313, the Brazilian hasn’t changed his opinion on the bout.

“The UFC liked the idea, and I truly believe that fight must happen,” Ruffy said. “I’m with the telephone in my hands waiting for my manager to call. One great thing about the UFC is that they value [good performances].”

Very happy with the recognition from the fans, Ruffy recalled some meetings that he had lately backstage at UFC events with some of his idols in the sport.

“I couldn’t believe it when Jon Jones and Chael Sonnen came to talk to me,” Ruffy said. “I’ve always studied Cody Garbrandt´s movements. He came to talk to me in PI. These kinds of things pay off every effort I had. That's why I always encourage new fighters to train hard and believe in their dreams. God will help to achieve it.”

Ruffy added that he plans on opening the first Fighting Nerds branch in the United States.

"It will be in New Hampshire. Soon I´ll have the date,” he said. “After that one, which I will lead, Pablo Sucupira will open two other branches in Miami and Vegas.”