Mauricio Ruffy is the odds-on favourite when he co-headlines UFC Paris in opposition to French light-weight Benoit Saint Denis this Saturday, and his sole nemesis in blended martial arts is “pleased” for the hype he’s constructed over the previous few years.
Manoel Sousa, who earned a UFC contract following a third-round knockout of Cristian Perez at Dana White’s Contender Collection in late August, celebrated Ruffy’s so-far good 3-0 run within the UFC, which noticed the Preventing Nerds standout beat King Inexperienced, James Llontop, and Jamie Mullarkey.
Sousa and Ruffy fought at a Standout Preventing Event in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in November 2019, and went to struggle with knockdowns for all sides in Spherical 1. “Manumito” rocked Ruffy with a brutal left hand within the second and adopted with a barrage of punches earlier than the referee stepped in.
“Talking of Ruffy, I’m pleased for his success,” Sousa informed MMA Preventing. “He’s puffed up, on the rise. I don’t know if we’ll meet once more, but when we do, we will struggle. I do know he’s developed a lot, he’s not the identical man — however as he has developed, I’ve additionally developed in coaching and expertise. The extra you struggle, as time goes by, you get extra skilled. If we occur to fulfill once more, we are going to struggle.”
Ruffy joined the UFC after stopping Raimond Magomedaliev on DWCS in October 2023. Sousa was anticipated to be on the present a yr earlier than Ruffy, however a contract with PFL stopped him from taking the chance. Sousa filed a lawsuit in opposition to PFL in 2023, however ultimately reached a deal to compete for them beneath the Bellator banner in 2024.
“It’s like a film going in your head,” Sousa mentioned of the whole saga. “A lot went on over these previous years, PFL and Bellator. I used to be presupposed to struggle on the Contender years in the past, however that didn’t work due to the supervisor I had on the time, who f*cked my life up and slowed me down, however it’s all in God’s time. What issues is that we bought the [UFC] contract now. I come right here extra skilled. I’ll have much less strain after I struggle within the UFC [because] I’ve been by means of loads.”
Sousa needed to rally in opposition to Perez to get the late end and earn the contract, however felt assured all through.
“I anticipated him to return to strike with me as a result of he’s a Mexican and Mexicans prefer to field, so I assumed he would come to struggle,” Sousa mentioned. “I used to be shocked, however it was a terrific struggle. Now we have to make issues occur. I used to be very relaxed when he took me down, and I noticed he was losing an excessive amount of vitality on the bottom. I assumed, ‘He’ll get drained, and I’ll knock this man out after I get again up.’ I used to be so certain that I used to be going to knock that man out that I didn’t keep passive on the bottom. I attacked with a kimura, Americana, and even heard his arm pop. I informed the referee, however he wouldn’t perceive me [in Portuguese], so I let it slide.”
Lastly, a UFC fighter, the Brazilian light-weight mentioned he volunteered to be a part of the Rio de Janeiro card on Oct. 11, however was informed it’s extremely unlikely. Sousa is focusing on a debut for later this yr.
“When the [DWCS] struggle was over, I ran to Dana and mentioned in Portuguese, ‘I’m a special animal,’” Sousa mentioned. “I knew that might work.”
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