‘Batman’ Glides Into Victory Against Mauricio Ruffy at UFC 331
UFC 331 will be a spectacle featuring a title card that headlines a revenge fight, but at the same time features a fight in the Men’s Lightweight Division worth exploring. This is a fight between a fighter who is ranked second in the division, whereas his opponent is ranked seventh. The two fighters are Arman Tsarukyan and Mauricio Ruffy. Tsarukyan also goes by the nickname ‘Batman,’ which was just recently adopted before taking this fight. Ruffy currently has no nickname, but he is 30 years old. His competitor is only 29 years old.
‘Batman’ has won all five of his past bouts and will look to this one as another stepping stone on his way to becoming champion of the Men’s Lightweight Division. His 23-3-0 record is impressive. In comparison to his 30-year-old opponent, he is the more experienced fighter. However, he only lands 3.85 strikes per minute, which makes him slightly slower when trying to hit Ruffy, who lands 4.19 strikes per minute by comparison. Alternatively, he does absorb 1.80 strikes per minute, making him a hard target to find mid-strike. If he can keep up that same pace, he will find himself solidly ahead on the scorecards by the end of the bout.
The 30-year-old opponent will have to time his strikes carefully if he hopes to land any connecting punches or kicks. He does have a higher striking accuracy, sitting at 57% overall. Also, he naturally has the longest reach of 75”. He can make use of both advantages coming into the fight by being a stronger striker while at the same time not getting struck in return. He has 59% standing defense and 86% takedown defense. Overall, he is the more defensive fighter, which makes that scenario of him not getting hit a possibility.
Possibilities are speculative, and current crowd statistics point to Tsarukyan as the winner, largely via submission. That is no surprise, since he's gotten six of his wins by submission. He is definitively the grappler of the two. Ruffy understands that, though, and will be ready for any takedown attempts due to his defense in that area. He could keep the fight standing while fighting off any takedown attempts from the 29-year-old fighter. This would give him the edge he needs and allow him to win the fight.
The ending is always up for debate, too. It is likely the 30-year-old fighter will be the victor because he’s carrying all the right tools to fight off the current second-ranked fighter in the division. He may be the seventh-ranked fighter, but neither fighter reached the top ten of this division without earning experience along the way. That's what will make this fight a spectacle: the combined experience of both fighters, which will let them fight each other off until the last round. To see who’ll be standing when the bell tolls, stream the fight live Saturday, September 19, 2026, on Paramount+ by 9:00 p.m. EDT!
