Arman Tsarukyan believes he did enough to warrant another crack at reigning lightweight champion Islam Makhachev.
Tsarukyan lost a hard-fought decision to Makhachev in his Octagon debut at UFC Fight Night 149 in April 2019, but he has been victorious in nine of his 10 promotional appearances since then. Perhaps none of those was more impressive than his work on Saturday, when he vanquished Beneil Dariush in just 64 seconds in the UFC on ESPN 52 headliner. The American Top Team product didn’t hesitate to point out that Oliveira needed longer to defeat Dariush in their matchup at UFC 289, which “Do Bronx” ended at the 4:10 mark of Round 1.
“Charles knocked him out, and if I won by decision, how am I going to fight for the title?” Tsarukyan said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “But I knocked him out faster than Charles, and he didn’t take me down like he did with Charles. I performed better than Charles. Charles already had the opportunity, so it’s my time right now.”
Oliveira fell to Makhachev via second-round submission in their title bout at UFC 280. The Brazilian was scheduled for a rematch against the lightweight champ at UFC 294, but had to pull out of the fight after suffering a cut in training. For now, it’s still expected that Oliveira is the No. 1 contender in waiting.
Tsarukyan entered UFC on ESPN 52 knowing he would need an memorable showing to potentially surpass Oliveira.
“When they gave me the fight, I was thinking, ‘I have to knock him out in the first round and call out Islam and get a title fight,” Tsarukyan said.
UFC CEO Dana White wouldn’t commit to anything regarding the lightweight title picure, but he did acknowledge that Tsarukyan vs. Makhachev is a “great stylistic matchup.”
If he doesn’t get a title shot next, Tsarukyan doesn’t necessarily have another opponent in mind.
“If they’re not going to give me a title shot, then we have to figure it out,” he said. “But hopefully they give me a title fight and that’s it.”
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