Arman Tsarukyan wants to provide some clarity to the lightweight title picture.
Last month, Ilia Topuria won the vacant lightweight title by knocking out Charles Oliveira in the main event of UFC 317. Afterward, fans quickly wondered who might get the first crack at the new lightweight champion, with names like Tsarukyan, Justin Gaethje, and Paddy Pimblett all rising to the top of the list.
For the moment, the frontrunner appears to be Pimblett, who had an in-cage faceoff with Topuria at UFC 317, but nothing is set in stone, and Tsarukyan has a plan to clear the logjam up a bit.
“Of course I want Islam [Makhachev], but right now, it makes sense to fight with Gaethje, because he just beat the No. 11 or so [Rafael] Fiziev,” Tsarukyan told Chuck Liddell on his Out Cold show. “He doesn’t deserve title fight. That’s 100 percent, because he just lost [to Max] Holloway. Beat, on short notice, Fiziev. Fiziev knew about the fight five days, and he won, barely, a decision. Now he’s talking about title fight. It’s not fair. I think he’s got to beat me to deserve to fight for the title.”
Gaethje appeared to be in line to challenge then-champion Islam Makhachev for the lightweight title last year, but instead stepped up to defend his ‘BMF’ belt against Max Holloway at UFC 300, losing by vicious knockout. He rebounded with a unanimous decision win over Rafael Fiziev at UFC 313. Since then, Gaethje has made his case for the title shot he forewent, saying he would consider retirement if he doesn’t get it, but it’s unclear where the UFC stands right now.
Similarly, Tsarukyan had a clear path to the lightweight title earlier this year when he was scheduled to face Makhachev in the main event of UFC 311. Unfortunately, Tsarukyan withdrew from the bout the day before the fight, putting him in the dog house with the UFC. Tsarukyan did weigh-in as the backup fighter for UFC 317, but UFC CEO Dana White did not say if the No. 1 contender would actually be fighting for the belt next. But Tsarukyan says if it’s not for the belt, it has to be a fight that makes sense for him.
“They offered me a fight. I said no because I want to fight ranked fighter from top 5,” Tsarukyan said. “I’m in the position, I’m not fighting for the money right now. I just want to be a champion. Now my goal is to be a champion, that’s why I’m not taking a fight I will just beat [someone]. I know I can beat everybody. Right now, I want to pick a good fight for me and get back to the title fight.”
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UFC Vegas 108 Media Day.
Israel Adesanya with some Nigerian food.
Daniel Cormier trash talking.
Sir, you lost.
He lost almost every round except the 4th. So if his training strategy was to lose almost every round and then try a Hail Mary in the last 30 secs then buddy you need a new game plan. And yes that’s luck. You had a 30 sec streak of luck. I had 20 mins of dominance. https://t.co/cXewgNmTZR
— Johnny Eblen (@JohnnyEblen) July 30, 2025
Life after.
Makes sense.
Drod looked good in his last fight. We would put on a banger for sure. I’d stop him violently but it would be fun.
— Randy Brown (@TouchNgo_) July 30, 2025
Follow the real RDR Twitter account!
Happy birthday!
Karine Silva (18-5) vs. Dione Barbosa (8-3); UFC 319, Aug. 16
Lone’er Kavanagh (9-0) vs. Charles Johnson (17-7); UFC Shanghai, Aug. 23
Honestly, it should be Gaethje vs. Paddy and Arman vs. Ilia, but that’s not happening, so I guess we could do worse than Gaethje vs. Arman. Except that might end up being the final fight of Gaethje’s career, and that would be a bummer of a way to end things.
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