Joe Lopez is confident in Mauricio Ruffy’s ground game ahead of UFC 331.
Ruffy (14-2 MMA, 5-1 UFC) gets a big step up in competition against Arman Tsarukyan (23-3 MMA, 10-2 UFC) in the Sept. 19 co-main event at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
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Ruffy recently parted ways with his Fighting Nerds team to join UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski in Australia. Since his dominant stoppage loss to Benoit Saint Denis in September 2025, Ruffy has rebounded with two-straight knockouts of Rafael Fiziev and Michael Chandler.
Ruffy’s new coach Lopez says the improvements since the Saint Denis loss have been night and day.
“Well, it’s just chalk and cheese,” Lopez told Submission Radio. “You can just see how he’s improving, you know? For this fight here, that’s one of our specialties is our defensive wrestling and our scrambles and not accepting the position. Honestly, he’s picking it up. When he first came, he was still really stuck in his jiu-jitsu type thing where he attached himself to the person, where now, he’s not.
“He’s training his escapes, getting out, putting his body in the right position, putting his hands in the right position. Having Frank (Hickman), Alex (Volkanovski), and Brad Riddell there constantly trying to take him down and him getting back up, I can just see how hard it is for those boys now to hold him down.”
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Lopez lauded Ruffy’s fight IQ, and says it comes down to his defensive wrestling, which he thinks he’s cleaned up enough for Tsarukyan.
“Arman’s in for a fight,” Lopez said. “It’s not going to be he’s going to hold Ruffy down for five rounds and make it ugly. I can’t see that happening. You can never say never, but just watching Ruffy and how he’s moving, and he’s so athletic as well. He’s such a strong, athletic guy, and he wants to learn and he picks things up so quick.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Coach: Mauricio Ruffy’s improvements from first UFC loss are ‘chalk and cheese’
