Los Angeles — Ahead of UFC 331 and his fight with Arman Tsarukyan, Mauricio Ruffy has had one of the hardest, more intense fight camps of his career.
He’s also “very grateful” to be able to train with the likes of UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski, the Brazilian stated during Wednesday’s media day.
As to why this camp was one of the hardest ever for Ruffy (14-2), he dropped his translator to answer. “Five rounds, my brother. It’s different.”
Training camp also saw another UFC legend show up. “It was very special, to be able to train with Alex, Brad, Frankie, and everybody. Israel [Adesanya, former UFC middleweight champ] came towards the end of the camp when we were finishing, but he spent his time with me, and just gave me some of his time to go through some things.”
“It was very special,” Ruffy added, because his dream was once as simple as just “meeting these guys. Just meeting them.” And Volkanovski in particular would stay with Ruffy for an hour after training was over, working on positions, he added. “So many dreams came true. I feel very grateful.”
There’s an argument to be made, ahead of their lightweight clash, that the fight with Arman Tsarukyan might draw more eyeballs than a potential title fight for Mauricio Ruffy. That’s thanks to the Armenian’s profile, which has skyrocketed over the past couple of years.
For Ruffy, however, it’s all about the belt. “I think a little bit differently, because I think you need to get a belt to be a champion. If you think about the past couple years, he’s had one, two fights and I’ve had six fights. So we remain active, and I’m going into my third fight this year looking for my third win.”
“You have to be active, you have to earn it, you have to face people and you have to look to be a champion by getting the belt. That’s what I think you should do, and that’s how I feel. I strive to get fights, get ready to be in fights, to be in fights to get that belt. Beating Arman to me will not make me a champion, because he is not the champion. I want to fight the champion and get the belt from the champion.”
Watch the full UFC 331 media day appearance by Arman Tsarukyan above.