Mauricio Ruffy Eager to Be Second ‘Fighting Nerd’ at UFC Paris While Opponent Runs into Trouble with Previous Coach

Linked for a fight before, KO artist Mauricio Ruffy interested in fighting ranked-lightweight Benoit Saint-Denis at UFC Paris.

Mauricio Ruffy Eager to Be Second ‘Fighting Nerd’ at UFC Paris While Opponent Runs into Trouble with Previous Coach

Mauricio Ruffy teases UFC Paris fight vs. Benoit Saint-Denis (Source: X)

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UFC Paris has a date and event headliner. What if it gets an equally potent co-main event attraction? Mauricio Ruffy, KO artist from Brazil and Team Fighting Nerd product, wants to make it a thematic Brazil vs. France scrapper. For this to materialize, he has ranked UFC 155-pounder Benoit Saint-Denis in mind.

A recent social media post offers some insight into Ruffy’s future. In a video published on X, Ruffy is depicted seated with hot, steaming caffeine and a flaky croissant, accompanied by the strains of the French Accordion Waltz. When the camera finally pans to him, a simple “Bonjour” is offered by Ruffy.

Speculative, much? When there’s smoke in fight town, there’s usually fire right afterward, and a Ruffy vs. Saint-Denis booking makes all the sense. It could be a classic slugger versus wrestler from Team CYFIT affair. What makes more sense here is Mauicio Ruffy’s teammate, surging middleweight Caio Borralho, headlines the event.

He meets No.1-ranked Nassourdine Imavov during the UFC Fight Night: Imavov vs. Borralho event headliner, which was confirmed recently for September 6, at Accor Arena, Paris. Now, after Team Kill Cliff FC’s ‘Sniper,’ Ruffy is seemingly targeting the other Frenchman for the UFC Paris card.

Ruffy is unranked in the top-15 in the Athletes’ Listings. However, The Fighting Nerd’s popularity and his own prowess have worked highly in favor so far. While he was a -500 favorite (BetOnline.Ag) to spark UFC 313’s pay-per-view main card portion, he still started with a shock statement.

The fighter is perfect inside the Octagon (3-0) with his last win being a first-round high-wheel kick KO over King Green. As such, this match-up with the veteran lightweight could be one for the ages. However, ‘God of War’ will have to do it with prominent changes in his camp.

Benoit Saint-Denis flamed by ex-coach after fiery split

While not the biggest of names, Ruffy touts an 11-1 TKO/KO stat in his time from Centurion FC, Mega Fight Championship, to even DWCS (Contender Series: Season 7, Week 9). Mauricio Ruffy might be a blue-chip 155-pound prospect just yet. But his violently fashioned KOs have linked him to possible big scraps vs. Michael Chandler and even Justin Gaethje.

Benoit Saint-Denis is operating with a new team, laid into by ex-trainer
Benoit Saint-Denis is operating with a new team, laid into by ex-trainer (Source: X)

His robust take-no-crap attitude, style-striking, minimal facial hair, and checking range/footwork even often earns him the bill of a younger ‘Conor McGregor‘. As such, any fight with this 29-year-old orthodox could prove a good barnburner. The one possible snag Benoit Saint-Denis could face is prepping for it.

Saint-Denis was on a fast-track to be a proper 155-pound contender, winning his first five fights. All-inclusive of a head-kick KO against Matt Frevola at MSG – fighting’s Mecca. However, after a sudden shock turn against Dustin Poirier at UFC 299, he parted with longtime coach Daniel Woirin.

Unlike other cases, the split was less than ideal. It was reported that the fighter flamed him for unethical behind-the-scenes methods. Woirin has coached the likes of legends Anderson Silva, Lyoto Machida, and Dan Henderson. In a recent interview, the coach swiped back, saying Benoit Saint-Denis was below par when compared to those names and the split was purely due to monetary reasons.

Our split was purely about money, not skills; you get dumped via a text message, well…a phone call, it hurts…Benoit…he is really below those guys [now]. He is very well-known, but he doesn’t hold a candle to them. Maybe he’ll get there, we hope so for him.

Daniel Woirin on ‘Biomécanique‘ Podcast (H/T: @MMArena_)

Ex-Brave CF champion and Ares FC welterweight Amin Ayoub gave a different story, saying the coach would not even turn up to corner Saint-Denis, and threatened to do just that due to payment disputes.

Saint-Denis was defeated by Renato Moicano in his first fight with his new team. This came in the way of a second-round doctor stoppage TKO at the previous UFC Paris installment. However, the French star rebounded, submitting newcomer Kyle Prepolec at UFC 315 PPV. Now, whenever he fights, it’d entail large tune-ups to his camp.

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