Mauricio Ruffy pens heartfelt message ‘realizing the dream’ of meeting Israel Adesanya at UFC 314

Israel Adesanya was a highlight of Mauricio Ruffy’s night as both men turned up for UFC 314 in support of their close friends, Alexander Volkanovski and Jean Silva, respectively. The streaking Brazilian lightweight took to his Instagram story with a picture he took of himself and Adesanya posing for the camera.

He couldn’t understate the experience of meeting ‘The Last Stylebender,’ who is one of the greatest fighters in MMA history, and among the UFC’s biggest stars. The picture, which is in black and white, features a caption of deep gratitude from Ruffy, saying the following:

“On this trip, I managed to realize the dream of meeting this guy… Thank you, brother.”

Besides his encounter with a legendary fighter like Adesanya, Ruffy had other reasons to be delighted. His Fighting Nerds teammate and fellow Brazilian countryman Silva, scored the biggest win of his career by dominating and submitting grappler extraordinaire Bryce Mitchell within two rounds.

The Fighting Nerds have taken the MMA world by storm, with an impressive winning record that has seen several of their fighters become notable stars in their respective divisions. Caio Borralho, for example, is a top-ranked middleweight on a 16-fight unbeaten streak and a 14-fight win streak.

He recently defeated Jared Cannonier in a three-round war at UFC Vegas 96 to cement himself as the #6 fighter in the division. Meanwhile, Ruffy himself is coming off a jaw-dropping spinning wheel kick knockout of King Green, which he scored at UFC 313, his seventh victory in a seven-fight win streak.

Israel Adesanya also had cause for celebration at UFC 314

Israel Adesanya has always been a massive supporter of his friend and training partner Alexander Volkanovski. So, it’s only natural that he was cage-side to watch ‘The Great’ attempt to do the impossible by becoming the first fighter over the age of 35 to capture a UFC title in the lighter weight classes.

Volkanovski did just that, demonstrating his elite skill and bottomless heart in an extremely physical fight against heavy-handed submission specialist Diego Lopes. The two men hurt each other at various points, but in the end, Volkanovski recaptured his featherweight belt to the delight of Adesanya.

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Ricardo has been an MMA writer at Sportskeeda for the past 2 years, having previously worked for The Sportster. In his time at Sportskeeda, the kickboxing and Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner has penned over 2000 articles, including five exclusive pieces, and raked in more than 4 million views. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics.

Ricardo’s earliest memory of becoming an MMA fan dates back to 2009 when Lyoto Machida defeated Rashad Evans in the headlining bout of UFC 98. His Mt. Rushmore of MMA fighters includes Georges St-Pierre, Jon Jones, Fedor Emelianenko, Anderson Silva, and Alexander Volkanovski.

Ricardo aspires to be at the forefront of covering MMA soon by becoming a part of discussion panels that conduct pre-fight predictions, post-fight breakdowns, and fantasy fight breakdowns. His articles are supported by extensive research and double checking of information via multiple sources.

Beyond work, Ricardo likes to write and draw.

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Edited by Ricardo Viagem