Did John Ruiz improve much between the Tua KO and his title reign?

Agreed.

And matchmaking to steer clear of the hitters. He was always walking/wading in & Tua showed very quickly what happens with that style. so face boxer types instead and nobody with snap on their punch. And John Ruiz can do reasonably well against other styles. But a jabber and mover is bad as well, but that has turned into an endangered species in the division.