‘Easy’ Ed Ruth isn’t looking for an easy way out, as following his Bellator 201 victory, he spoke of a willingness to fight anyone at 170lbs, and join the upcoming Bellator Welterweight Grand Prix.
Ed Ruth is one of a number of promising up-and-comers in Bellator MMA these days. Having made his welterweight debut at Bellator 201 in Temecula, CA and picking up another win, the now 6-0 Ruth has big things ahead of him. That could include the upcoming Welterweight Grand Prix, which debuts in September.
Ruth spoke of his performance, a second round TKO of Andy Murad, and what he wants next, following Bellator 201. And from the sounds of it, no one is off limits. First, though, he turned a critical eye to his own in-cage work. In terms of his performance, though ‘Easy’ was happy to get the knockout, he admitted that “I still want to see more from myself.”
“I still want to see my shots get a little bit cleaner,” Ruth said. “I want to actually take it to the guy a little bit more, and not have to kind of tiptoe around him and look for my shots. Because for me, I’m a very technical fighter,” he concluded, which might make you wonder if Ruth is a little bit of a perfectionist.
With Bellator’s Welterweight Grand Prix imminent, the question of Ruth’s participation arose next. “I think that tonight has put me in the running. Hopefully, I’m going to be in it,” he said of the possibility. Though he wouldn’t say no to a fight between now and the grand prix, he added.
As for any particular name he’d like to face in the opening round, well that just doesn’t matter. “You jump into this sport,” explained Ed Ruth, “who are you looking to fight? You’re not just going to coast along. You got to look towards these big guys. These are the guys that got me into it. So of course I want to fight those guys that got me into it.”
“I want to fight them all. If it’s Rory, it’s Rory. If it’s Paul Daley, it’s Paul Daley. If it’s Lima, it’s Lima,” he continued. MVP? Sure. Jon Fitch? No problem. That was the attitude Ruth had on display post-fight on Friday: take on all comers.
After all, you might have to fight them anyway. And it’s about being the best. “Anybody there is. If you want to be the best fighter, you’ve got to be the best fighter,” Ruth said. “The best fighter beats all the fighters.”
Don’t miss the full Bellator 201 post-fight press scrum with Ed Ruth above!
