Mauricio Ruffy brought the violence to UFC 301 when he brutally beat down veteran lightweight Jamie Mullarkey.
On Saturday’s prelims at Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Ruffy (10-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) hit Mullarkey (17-8 MMA, 5-6 UFC) with an arsenal of strikes for a TKO stoppage at 4:42 of Round 1.
A Ruffy right hand stumbled Mullarkey before a flying knee connected. A second right hand from Ruffy put Mullarkey down and follow-up punches rained down. Mullarkey rose to his feet, but Ruffy beat the brakes off him again. The second time Mullarkey toppled to the canvas was enough for referee Mike Beltran to wave off the fight.
MAURICIO RUFFY’S POWER 💥 #UFC301
Stream #UFC301 tonight on @ESPN+ PPV ➡️ https://t.co/5fTe46h31v pic.twitter.com/lJUn9wM54T
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) May 4, 2024
Ruffy, 30, has won five fights in a row. All five of those victories were stoppages due to strikes. Saturday was his promotional debut after he earned his UFC deal with a Dana White’s Contender Series win by TKO against Raimond Magomedaliev.
Mullarkey, 29, has lost two fights in a row and three of his most recent four. All three of those defeats were knockout/TKOs.
Up-to-the-minute UFC 301 results include:
- Mauricio Ruffy def. Jamie Mullarkey via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 4:42
- Dione Barbosa def. Ernesta Kareckaite via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Ismael Bonfim def. Vinc Pichel via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Alessandro Costa def. Kevin Borjas via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 1:35
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 301.
