Ultimate Fighting Championship.
in the main event of 2011, Luffy faced Tsarukyan UFC 331. The Brazilian rocked Tsarukyan early, leaving him out of sight in the first round. The latter survived an early scare and elbowed Luffy out of the clinch in the dying seconds of the round.
Mauricio Ruffy explains why he relaxed his defense in the final seconds against Arman Tsarukyan
Ruffy addressed his loss to Tsarukyan on Wednesday. Although one of the most feared strikers among active UFC lightweights, Ruffy isn’t really known for his ground game. He wanted to silence his doubters and also prove to himself that he could handle the wrestling match against Tsarukyan.
To Luffy’s credit, he defended each of Tsarukyan’s takedown attempts. Luffy says he gradually felt Tsarukyan’s grip loosen as he continued to defend the takedowns. He was confident of finishing the visibly hurt Tsarukyan in the second round.
However, Tsarukyan knocked out Luffy in the last seconds of the first round. He says he could have gotten away with the grappling, but decided to let Tsarukyan tire him out after hearing the 10-second warning clap. Luffy blames himself for shooting the guard in the last seconds. He apologized to his fans for letting them down and promised to learn from the loss.
“I wanted to prove to myself that I’m okay,” Luffy said on Instagram. “So I wanted to defend all the underdogs. I didn’t want a quick knockout. I wanted to go out a better fighter. And I say best, that means going through situations, not just to make it clear to people, but to myself, how much I’m ready. I know I’m ready, but knowing isn’t all you need to prove you’re ready.”
“When I got that flash off and I felt his power go away. I felt the fight in my control. And when he got the flash off, I felt his power break. I saw how much he felt it when I hit him with one elbow in the ribs when he was guarding the back. So he was hurt; his eye was very closed. I was sure I was going to get a lot of punches there.
“It’s important to say that the mistake was completely mine. It was my fault, my carelessness and his merit. Arman is a great fighter. When the guys were yelling at me that there were 10 seconds left and he was shooting my legs, it was actually the best thing for me. I thought, ‘He’s going to spend a little more energy here. In the second round, I’m going to take him out.” There were four seconds left, so I had some punches that I could have thrown. I could have gotten off the fence, but I didn’t want to. I wanted to use that moment against him, and it was a good idea. I just got careless. I relaxed — defensively, which I don’t usually do. So, I paid the price for that.
“So I want to apologize to my fans for the loss. I know it’s not easy to chase someone because of a loss, but guys, I’m learning. You’ve seen the progress of every fight and this fight went really well. But I’m happy with everything that happened. Losing is hard to deal with, but it makes us grow.”
Ruffy (14-3) has finished four of his five UFC wins, but lost Benoit St Denis and Tsarukyan. Meanwhile, Tsarukyan (24-3) claims the UFC has repeatedly promised him his next lightweight title shot.