Jon Anik names future world champion after showstealing performance at UFC 313… 'He's a sight to behold'

03/12/2025 08:03 AM

UFC 313 on Saturday night was filled with incredible fights, but there was one fighter who stole the show.

In the main event, Alex Pereira shockingly lost his light heavyweight championship after being narrowly outstruck by longtime contender Magomed Ankalaev.

The co-main event also produced a blockbuster fight between Justin Gaethje and Rafael Fiziev, with Gaethje bouncing back from his brutal loss to Max Holloway with another impressive showing.

However, despite the co-main and main event showcases, it was the main card opener between Mauricio Ruffy and Bobby Green that stole the show.

Jon Anik names Mauricio Ruffy as a future world champion

After an impressive few performances under the UFC banner after earning a contract on Dana White’s Contender Series, ‘One Shot’ Ruffy was given the biggest fight of his career thus far.

Despite it being a big step up for the Fighting Nerd, he showcased exactly why there is so much hype surrounding him, knocking out the veteran Green with a spectacular spinning wheel kick.

The 28-year-old is part of the high flying, Fighting Nerds, who are undefeated in the UFC at 18-0 across four fighters, with them all rapidly becoming stars in the promotion.

Following Ruffy’s Knockout of the Year contender, UFC commentator, Jon Anik told Bloody Elbow in an exclusive interview, that he thinks the 28-year-old has the highest ceiling out of the impressive team.

“I really would like to see him get that prominent big fight and maybe a (main) event,” Anik told Bloody Elbow.

“I will say, Mauricio Ruffy (has the highest ceiling from that team). So, Pablo Sucupira is the head coach of the Fighting Nerds, and you have a lot of these head coaches like Morne Visser and they’re able to extract incredible things out of their athletes.

“But if you’re just peeling back the athlete, right, in terms of just the god given gifts… Mauricio Ruffy is a sight to behold, bro. I don’t recall reacting to a knockout ever like that, holding an ‘OH’ as long as I did this weekend,” Anik continued.

What is next for Mauricio Ruffy in the UFC?

Despite his emphatic knockout win, Ruffy is yet to be ranked in the top 15 of the lightweight division. However, the Brazilian audaciously called for a fight against the number nine ranked 155lber, Beneil Dariush.

Dariush has since responded to the callout, stating that if he is offered the fight by Dana White and Hunter Campbell, he wouldn’t say no.

Although it may seem like a big jump, Dariush is coming off the back of two losses and is likely going to need to defend his ranking.