Jean Silva backs Mauricio Ruffy despite rift after UFC 331 KO

Jean Silva wants his fans to support Mauricio Ruffy despite their rift.

Ruffy (14-3) lost to Arman Tsarukyan (24-3) in a high-stakes Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight bout at UFC 331 on Sept. 19 in Los Angeles. The Brazilian recently received the backing of his compatriot and former teammate online.

While Ruffy hurt Tsarukyan with an early right hand, “The Batman” survived and mixed in his wrestling. Tsarukyan then slept Ruffy with a vicious elbow while breaking from a clinch late in the first round.

Ruffy’s former Fighting Nerds teammate, Silva, was evidently dejected watching him lose, as seen in a clip posted online. While they are no longer friends, “Lord” still wants his fans to support Ruffy as he recovers from this loss. Having been knocked out in a high-profile bout just last year, the UFC featherweight believes Ruffy has a rough patch ahead of him.

“As I said in the video, I hope that the people around give support to Ruffy, I've been in that same situation and it's a very dark road to be on,” Silva wrote on X. “Even having our problems, Ruffy is an excellent athlete.”

Silva suffered a similar knockout loss to Diego Lopes last year and has since rebounded with wins over Arnold Allen and Jose Delgado.

Silva and Ruffy were teammates at Fighting Nerds team under coach Pablo Sucupira. Silva even admitted that Ruffy helped him channel his wild energy. However, Ruffy has since changed camps, training under featherweight king Alexander Volkanovski in Australia. While the rest of the Fighting Nerds don’t have a problem with Ruffy, Silva publicly announced their split but clearly still cares for his countryman.