Mauricio Ruffy razzled and dazzled, but left UFC 309 without a finish.
It wasn’t for a lack of trying – or succeeding – to land punches. Ruffy (11-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) hit opponent James Llontop (14-5 MMA, 0-3 UFC) with everything but the kitchen sink, but had to settle for a unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) win rather than a knockout.
The 165-pound catchweight bout opened up the UFC 309 main card at Madison Square Garden in New York. The bout was initially scheduled for lightweight, but Llontop came into fight week heavy. The promotion bumped it up 10 pounds, but Llontop still missed by 1.2 pounds.
Ruffy was unfazed by the changes in circumstances and radiated an aura in the opening minutes of the fight. He was patient at first, but then uncorked some elitely-timed punches and dropped Llontop on multiple occasions. He even tried a jumping tornado kick.
Despite a massive mouse, directly on his machine gun face tattoo below his left eye, Llontop hung tough. He put forth a strong third round and appeared to be the fresher fighter in the final five minutes.
But the first two rounds were enough for Ruffy to sweep the scorecards and move to 2-0 in the UFC. He debuted in May when he scored a slick knockout against Jamie Mullarkey. The fight created a tremendous amount of buzz, and created difficulties for Ruffy to find a willing opponent. The Fighting Nerds product has now won six in a row.
Put another notch in the win column 🤓
Mauricio Ruffy comes out on top at #UFC309! pic.twitter.com/P4Yr30cSkL
— UFC (@ufc) November 17, 2024
As for Llontop, he comes up short for the third time in as many UFC appearances. His future is uncertain, particularly because of the weight miss. Perhaps his toughness displayed Saturday will twist the UFC brass into giving him one more opportunity.
Up-to-the-minute UFC 309 results include:
- Mauricio Ruffy def. James Llontop via unanimous decision (29-28, 29, 29-28, 29-28)
- Marcus McGhee def. Jonathan Martinez via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Jim Miller def. Damon Jackson via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 2:44
- David Onama def. Roberto Romero via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Marcin Tybura def. Jhonata Diniz via TKO (doctor’s stoppage) – Round 2, 5:00
- Ramiz Brahimaj def. Mickey Gall via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 2:55
- Oban Elliott def. Bassil Hafez via knockout (punches) – Round 3, 0:40
- Eduarda Moura def. Veronica Hardy via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 309.
