PLAISTOW, N.H. – Mauricio Ruffy will be at UFC 314 to support Jean Silva, but he’s bringing his gloves with him.
Ruffy (12-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC), who’s fresh off a knockout of the year contender over King Green at UFC 313 in March, is eyeing Beneil Dariush next at International Fight Week for UFC 317. However, the Fighting Nerds prospect is willing to compete even sooner.
He will have his eyes peeled for Saturday’s co-main event (ESPN+ pay-per-view) between Michael Chandler (23-9 MMA, 2-4 UFC) and Paddy Pimblett (22-3 MMA, 6-0 UFC) at Kaseya Center in Miami, and is willing to step in if either fighter is forced to withdraw.
“Without a doubt, I’m going to be there,” Ruffy told MMA Junkie on UFC 314 through an interpreter. “I’m going over there, I’m going to be there for the fights, that is one of the reasons why I came here to be there for my teammates. But the other thing is, I’m ready to go. If either Pimblett or Chandler drops out or something happens and they cannot fight, I’m right here, I’m ready to go, I’ll be there ready to step up and fill in that spot.”
Ruffy’s teammate Silva has a big opportunity against ranked contender Bryce Mitchell on the UFC 314 main card. Two weeks later, his other teammate Carlos Prates takes on Ian Machado Garry in the UFC on ESPN 66 headliner.
“Jean Silva is going to come in and implement his game,” Ruffy said. “He’s going to be aggressive, he’s going to play his game, and he’s just going to do what he’s going to do. We’ve been putting in a lot of sweat and tears and blood into this game.
“We’re working hard, we’re doing our thing, and now Carlos Prates has this big opportunity against Ian Garry so, we’re here to show. We’re going to show you guys what we’re made of and what we came here to do.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 314.
