After suffering his first loss in the Octagon in dominant fashion to Benoit Saint Denis at UFC Fight Night 258, Ruffy (12-2 MMA, 3-1 UFC) opted to train with UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski in preparation for his next fight.
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“I’m still in Fighting Nerds, I’ll always be a Fighting Nerd, but I’m here to train with Volk to learn and help him, of course, and I know I’ll come here many more times to improve my game plan,” Ruffy said on “The Ariel Helwani Show” through an interpreter.
Ruffy will face Rafael Fiziev (13-4 MMA, 7-4 UFC) at UFC 325 on January 31 from Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, a card headlined by a title rematch between Volkanovski and Diego Lopes. Ruffy confirms that he won’t have the Fighting Nerds coaches in his corner.
“In this fight, not even Pablo (Sucupira) or Flavio (Alvaro) will be in my corner,” Ruffy said. “A week before, Pablo has the Jean Silva fight, and after the fight he needs to stay a month with Caio Borralho in Las Vegas. Pablo is a dad at the moment, he has a baby, so I understand this moment in his life.
“So I’m here (Australia), Volk is helping me and I have two cornerbacks from Brazil training with me. I will have one more cornerback who is training here with Volk and the guys in the gym. But yeah, the guys won’t be in my corner for this fight.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC 325: Mauricio Ruffy clarifies status with Fighting Nerds