Mauricio Ruffy recently discussed why he stepped away from his team, Fighting Nerds, to train with two-time and current UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski.
Ruffy is set to face Rafael Fiziev at UFC 325 on January 31. To prepare for the matchup and acclimate to conditions in Australia and the time zone, he temporarily relocated and trained without the Fighting Nerds. However, Ruffy is still a part of his Brazilian team, as he reaffirmed.
The Fighting Nerds’ perfect UFC run ended in 2025 as each fighter suffered their first loss in the promotion. Ruffy lost to Benoit Saint-Denis, Jean Silva lost to Diego Lopes, Carlos Prates lost to Ian Machado Garry, and Caio Borralho lost to Nassourdine Imavov.