Jean Silva backs Mauricio Ruffy despite rift after UFC 331 KO

Jean Silva called on fans to support Mauricio Ruffy following Ruffy's first-round knockout loss to Arman Tsarukyan at UFC 331 on Sept. 19 in Los Angeles. Despite a personal rift between the former Fighting Nerds teammates, Silva expressed sympathy online after watching Ruffy get stopped by a vicious elbow break from a clinch. Silva noted on X that recovering from such a high-profile knockout is a dark road, urging people close to Ruffy to offer support.

The two Brazilian fighters previously trained together under coach Pablo Sucupira before Ruffy switched camps to train under Alexander Volkanovski in Australia. Silva publicly acknowledged their split but praised Ruffy as an excellent athlete, drawing from his own experience of rebounding after suffering a knockout loss to Diego Lopes the previous year.