UFC 313 Fight Card Fighter To Watch: Mauricio Ruffy

The UFC is high on Mauricio Ruffy. Don’t believe that? Scroll on over to the promotion’s YouTube page and peruse the selections for this weekend’s UFC 313 fight card. Under the UFC 313 heading, you’ll find mention of the competitors you would expect: light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira and fight-night bonus machine Justin Gaethje. Also among those videos is one entitled, “Is Mauricio Ruffy UFC’s Next Star?” So, you better believe that the UFC is looking for big things from the 28-year-old Mauricio Ruffy, who has been compared to a young Conor McGregor.

Ruffy faces Bobby “King” Green in a lightweight battle that opens the UFC 313 pay-per-view card. UFC 313 takes place on Saturday, March 8 from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The main card streams on ESPN+ PPV, following prelims on ESPN and early prelims on ESPN+.

Ruffy was 8-1 and coming off a second-round TKO win over Ronys Torres under the Centurion FC banner when he got his chance to fight for a UFC contract on a Dana White’s Contender Series card in October 2023. In the lead-up to that welterweight fight against Raimond Magomedaliev, UFC commentator Laura Sanko compared Ruffy to Conor McGregor in terms of his offense. However, Sanko’s co-worker, Michael Bisping, said at the start of the contest that Ruffy’s defense had been suspect from that tape the former UFC champ had viewed in preparation for calling the DWCS bout.

Ruffy looked fresh and aggressive in the third round. Meanwhile, his opponent was fading. Then, with under a minute to go in the fight, Ruffy took advantage of Magomedaliev failing on a takedown. With Magomedaliev’s error, Ruffy moved to mount, where he unloaded ground strikes, securing the finish with 15 seconds left in the contest.

The first thing UFC CEO Dana White said of Ruffy was that he thought he could fight at lightweight. He then praised the Brazilian for his composure. He also noted that Ruffy was a two-to-one underdog.

“The fact that he beat a guy that trains with (UFC lightweight champion) Islam (Makahchev) and his team every day is obviously huge… I’m excited to see what this kid can do in the UFC,” added White.

Ruffy made his official UFC debut at UFC 301 against Jamie Mullarkey. Ruffy was a -265 betting favorite over his opponent, who came in at +225 for the lightweight bout, which was part of the early prelims for the event.

Even though he was fighting on a pay-per-view card in front of a hometown crowd in Rio de Janeiro, Ruffy did not show any Octagon jitters at UFC 301. The UFC commentators Paul Felder and Daniel Cormier were struck by Ruffy’s speed, power, and focus. They also noted his defensive abilities, especially how he rolled with the punches coming back from Mullarkey.

When the commentary team threw things to their coworker Din Thomas, Thomas, like Sanko, compared Ruffy to a young Conor McGregor. “The way he is piecing this guy up, the way he is so accurate in his instincts, reminds me of a young Conor,” said Thomas.

Not long after that, Ruffy ended the fight with a nasty series of strikes. The TKO, which came at 4:42 of the first stanza, earned Ruffy a “Performance of the Night” bonus.

At the time, I wrote of Ruffy, “Mauricio Ruffy looked very good in his UFC debut. The 27-year-old Brazilian was poised and focused. He showed fast striking, good power, an ability to mix up his techniques, sound defense, and a solid fight IQ in finishing Jamie Mullarkey in the first round.

“Make a note, Mauricio Ruffy’s next fight should be on your “must-watch” list.”

Ruffy had problems finding an opponent after his dominant win over Mullarkey. The UFC attempted to book him at UFC 303 and UFC 307, but the promotion was unable to secure him an opponent for either of those PPV events.

When Ruffy’s next fight came, it was at UFC 309, where the UFC slotted Ruffy as the opening fight on the Madison Square Garden pay-per-view card headlined by the Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic heavyweight title fight. That booking was an early indicator that the UFC felt it had something special in Ruffy.

Ruffy faced a late replacement opponent, James Llontop, who came in heavy for the short-notice catchweight fight.

The first thing UFC commentator Joe Rogan said about Ruffy was that he looked like a giant Conor McGregor, the version of McGregor who knocked out Jose Aldo at UFC 194.

Ruffy had his moments at UFC 309, scoring a knockdown in the second round, but he did fade a bit in the third stanza, eventually winning a unanimous decision.

After UFC 309 I wrote, “The 28-year-old Maurício Ruffy has looked good during his three-fight run with the UFC. He is poised and focused with fast striking, good power, an ability to mix up his techniques, sound defense, and a solid fight IQ.

“Jame Llontop gave Ruffy a tough 15-minute fight, but Llontop was outmatched throughout the entire bout.

“Ruffy struggled to find an opponent for UFC 309, and he might have more problems on that front in the future. He is a competitor to watch in the lightweight division. After the win, Ruffy called out Benoit Saint Denis.”

The Fighting Nerds product comes into UFC 313 as a significant betting favorite over Bobby “King” Green. At the start of fight week, Ruffy was listed at -460 to Green’s +360. Today, Ruffy is -425, while Green is +325.

Ruffy said of Green (via MMA Junkie), “This is a fight I’ve actually called out before,” Ruffy said. “I’ve told people, I told the team, I wanted him for the second fight. Hey it didn’t come in the second. It’s coming in the third. Let’s get this job done. I’ve very ready for it and I’m very happy for the opportunity. … As soon as I got into the UFC, I started looking at the fights that would give me a title shot and I thought that’s a guy who has the experience. I figure a win against him could propel me up into new heights. I think it’s a fight that opens doors. Fighting him and beating him is a fight that gets me to another level.”

The UFC 313 PPV fight card begins at 10:00 p.m. ET on Saturday, March 8 on ESPN+ pay-per-view. Mauricio Ruffy is the fighter to watch on the UFC 313 fight card. Forbes will have more on the event on fight night, including live results, reactions, highlights and more.