Mauricio Ruffy drew inspiration from soccer superstar Neymar Junior for his impressive kick that defeated Bobby Green at UFC 313. In an interview, he explained how Neymar's dribbling moves inspired him to create a series of feints that confused Green, allowing for a successful kick. Despite undergoing urgent meniscus surgery earlier in January, Ruffy managed to execute the move effectively. He also commented on fellow fighter Alex Pereira's performance, suggesting fatigue from travel impacted Pereira's rhythm in his fight, and discussed the challenges of facing Dagestani fighters in MMA.
Neymar always does a sequence of dribbling that confuses his opponents. I just thought how it could be applied in MMA, and that's the movement I did with Green, a sequence of hand feints that confounded him and permitted the kick to enter.
It was at the limit. I was just allowed to kick in the last week of the camp.
When you travel a lot and don't sleep, your body responds. I truly believe that if he was 70%, he would have knocked out Ankalaev.
That was certainly the most difficult moment of my career. I was invited on short notice to fight in a higher weight class.
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