Montserrat “Conejo” Ruiz Earns the Decision Against Cheyenne Buys at UFC on ESPN 21
Surging middleweights Derek Brunson and Kevin Holland meet in the UFC on ESPN 21 headliner this Saturday, March 20.
The original co-main event, between lightweight’s Gregor Gillespie verse Brad Riddel, was scratched from the fight card, bumping Song Kenan vs. Max Griffin to the co-main event. The featured women’s strawweight bout between Cheyanne Buys and Montserrat Ruiz is scheduled to take place third on the five-fight main card in Las Vegas, NV.
Cheyanne Buys vs. Montserrat Ruiz
The American, Cheyanne Buys (5-1) makes her Octagon debut tonight against Montserrat Ruiz in a 115-pound matchup. The warrior Princess is on a four-fight win streak and hopes to make a big splash in her first UFC bout. Buys last fought in August 2020, where she won a unanimous decision over Hillarie Rose on Dana White’s Contender Series.
Montserrat Ruiz (9-1) also enters the cage making her UFC debut. Holding a four-fight experience advantage, Ruiz is coming off a victory after suffering her first career blemish at Invicta FC 33.
Buys enters the fight with a slight two-inch reach and three-inch height advantage. This promotional debut fight is between two rising prospects in the strawweight division. A win sets their UFC career off in the right direction. Ruiz though appears on paper to be more well-rounded inside the cage as she has won 33% of her fights via KO/TKO, 22% via submission, and 44% by decision. That said, Buys is the Vegas favorite to win the fight at a -375. While Buys has grinded out 80% of her wins with a decision victory and captured 20% of her victories via KO/TKO.
Breakdown Round-by-round:
Round 1-
Conejo moved right in with a combination and clinched with Buys. Then Conejo brought Buys to the canvas and using a head and arm to hold Buys on the ground. Conejo throwing little shots to the face of Buys. Buys trying to wrap the leg around the wrestler looking to escape the hold. Conejo continues to hold the position. Buys almost escaped but left her hips over Conejo and was dragged back to the same position. Ruiz keeps landing face strikes. In the final seconds, Buys escapes and takes the back of Conejo looking to attack a submission as the horn sounds ending the round.
MyMMANews.com Scored the round 10-9 Ruiz.
Round 2-
At the start of the second round, Buys shows off her striking landing great combinations. Buys keeping her distance and circling. Conejo moves in again to clinch as she eats strikes moving forward. Conejo gets the head and arm, and eventually drags Buys to the canvas. Conejo continues with the strikes to the face. Conejo isolates the arm of Buys and Buys eventually escapes and gets back to her feet before being tossed back to the canvas with a head and arm. Buys scrambles and escapes. She ends up on top and into full-mount where she rained down elbows and strikes as the round ends.
MyMMANews.com Scored the round 10-9 Ruiz.
Round 3-
In this round, Buys is getting in and out with strikes. She’s keeping her distance and working from the outside. Ruiz pushes Buys back against the cage and Conejo takes her back to the mat again. While holding the head and arm, she’s throwing those small “rabbit” punches as Bisping said. Buys escapes and attempts a calf slicer and ends up back on her back after a short scramble. As the final seconds come to an end, both fighters began throwing for everything they had. As the horn sounded, the two women continued yelling at each other and had to be separated by the commission representatives.
MyMMANews.com Scored the round 10-9 Ruiz.
Official Decision: Montserrat “Conejo” Ruiz (10-1) defeated Cheyanne Buys (5-2) via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-27).
