Carlos
Prates believes Mauricio
Ruffy’s loss to Benoit St.
Denis doesn’t accurately reflect his teammate’s ability.
Ruffy is set to face Arman
Tsarukyan next and is currently a sizeable underdog. However,
Prates is confident in his countryman and recently addressed his
lone defeat in the
Ultimate Fighting Championship.
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Carlos Prates praises former teammate Mauricio Ruffy, claims
BSD loss was an outlier
Speaking on AgFight’s “Direto de Vegas” podcast, Prates recalled
being present during fight week for Ruffy’s bout with St. Denis. He
claims he witnessed circumstances surrounding the loss that he
won’t publicly discuss.
“I was there the week of the fight with BSD and I saw what
happened, but since Ruffy hasn’t talked about it, I’m not going to
talk about it either,” Prates said. “I can only guarantee that
wasn’t Ruffy in that Octagon.”
Prates says Ruffy’s takedown defense is the best at the
Fighting Nerds gym, insisting that if his former teammate ran
it back against St. Denis, he’d come out on top every time.
“This guy has the best takedown defense at Fighting Nerds,” Prates
added. “Benoit is very tough, but if you put Ruffy in there with
him 10 times, he wins 12.”
Ruffy can vault up the lightweight rankings with a win over
Tsarukyan at UFC
331, scheduled for Sept. 19 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
The Brazilian now trains alongside featherweight champ Alexander
Volkanovski in Australia after leaving Fighting Nerds last
year.