James Llontop planning Betty Childs-level upset of Nerd Mauricio Ruffy at UFC 309

NEW YORK – James Llontop has seen the hype surrounding his Saturday opponent.

In some ways, how could he not? Brazil's Mauricio Ruffy is part of the upstart Fighting Nerds gym that quickly has taken the MMA world by storm. Not only has the team found a way to use a playful gimmick – the classic nerd-as-hidden-in-plain-sight-tough-guy trope – to appeal to fans, but its fighters have been near-flawless in 2024 in the UFC.

Ruffy (10-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) is who stands between Llontop (14-4 MMA, 0-2 UFC) and his first UFC win at UFC 309 (pay-per-view, ESPNews/Hulu/FX, ESPN+) at Madison Square Garden in New York. For Llontop, from Peru, to pull it off, it will mean a massive upset against a 10-1 betting favorite.

"I'm coming with a different mentality, different kind of energy, different kind of preparation for this fight, and he's going to find out that we have a lot of great warriors in Peru," Llontop said at Wednesday's UFC 309 media day in New York.

But Ruffy is from Brazil, known for fighting warriors of its own. All 10 of his wins are knockouts, including one on DWCS to get into the UFC. Once there, he knocked out Jamie Mullarkey in May with a flying knee to get his promotional tenure started with an extra $50,000. He quickly drew comparisons to the type of skills Conor McGregor showed when he was on the rise, before he mostly bowed out of the sport.

Llontop sees it, but thinks he has the antidote after he stepped in for Charlie Campbell on short notice. Ruffy is a 10-1 betting favorite.

"I think there's some similarities there (to McGregor), but I think this kind of fighter, what you need to do is you can't let them fight," Llontop said. "You need to actually pressure him from start to finish, and that's what I'm going to do."

Check out Llontop's full interview in the video above.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie's event hub for UFC 309.

This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: James Llontop planning Betty Childs-level upset of Nerd Mauricio Ruffy at UFC 309