Mauricio Ruffy had a letdown on the UFC Paris card, and one analyst has some criticism.
Ruffy shared the Octagon with Benoit Saint Denis inside Accor Arena this past Saturday. While Ruffy had success with his striking, it was a disaster class for him on the ground. Saint Denis was able to weather the storm and scored a second-round submission finish.
Ruffy has taken a lot of flak following the defeat. During the UFC Paris post-fight show on ESPN+, Din Thomas shared his belief that Ruffy’s will to keep fighting was depleted the moment things didn’t go his way (via MMAFighting).
“I’ve been high on Ruffy since he hit the stage,” Thomas said on the UFC Paris Post Show. “We’ve been making comparisons between him and Conor McGregor, and I expected that from Ruffy. I said this guy, especially fighting a guy that gets wild like Benoit Saint Denis, I thought he would be able to pick him apart. I thought he was going to do something fascinating tonight, and the first body kick shook Ruffy up. Then the head kick shook him up. And I think that took Ruffy so far out of his game, he did not want to fight anymore.”
Thomas went on to say that Saint Denis made him a believe that he’s still relevant in the lightweight division.
“He didn’t want to be out there anymore, and it surprised me,” Thomas said. “He made me eat my words. And I’m always happy when these guys can make me eat my words, because that means there’s something that I don’t know. I own up to it. Benoit Saint Denis made me eat my words tonight. I was uncomfortable talking to Benoit Saint Denis about the fight, because I thought he was going to get beat up. Tonight, he made me eat my words.”
Whether or not Ruffy can bounce back remains to be seen. He had been riding a seven-fight winning streak prior to the loss against Saint Denis. “One Shot” will need to make adjustments to his grappling over at the Fighting Nerds. Ruffy figures to have some time on his side at the age of 29.