Written by Arman Tsarukyan | Photo by Cooper Neill/Zuffa LLC
Arman Tsarukyan is the odd man out in the UFC lightweight title picture right now.
Just three months ago, Tsarukyan had a golden opportunity to potentially beat Islam Makhachev for his belt and avenge a 2019 loss to the lightweight champion. Unfortunately for Tsarukyan, a back injury forced him to pull out the day before fight night and he has not been guaranteed a re-booking.
Tsarukyan has been open to fighting anyone to earn another chance, but a matchup is yet to materialize. He believes Makhachev needs to make a decision first and that is the domino that needs to fall to set the rest of the division in motion.
“Right now, because it’s a dangerous fight and I don’t have a title,” Tsarukyan said on the JAXXON podcast when asked why no one wants to fight him. “So [Charles] Oliveira wants to fight for the title, [Ilia] Topuria wants to fight, everybody wants to fight for the title and when the title fight is booked, then I’m going to get the fight.”
It’s possible the top of the lightweight roster has to wait for the aftermath of UFC 315 before finding out their next assignments.
The May 10 event is headlined by welterweight champion Belal Muhammad defending against Jack Della Maddalena. Muhammad trains with Makhachev, which has prevented Makhachev from moving up in weight to challenge for a second belt. Should Della Maddalena win, that could open the door for Makhachev to fight him instead.
And should that happen, a vacant or interim title could be up for grabs. Tsarukyan expects to be part of that equation if Makhachev does indeed leave the lightweight division.
“Depends, if Islam is going to move to 170 [pounds], yeah, they’ve got to give me the interim title with somebody,” Tsarukyan said.
One scenario that wouldn’t surprise Tsarukyan is Ilia Topuria leaping over the current lightweight contenders to get an immediate title shot against Makhachev. The now former featherweight champion recently vacated his belt with plans to move up to 155 pounds and if Muhammad retains and Makhachev stays put, the UFC matchmakers could jump at the chance to make the Makhachev-Topuria superfight happen.
Tsarukyan expects that’s how it’s all going to unfold, though even if Makhachev fights and defeats Topuria, there’s still one test Tsarukyan thinks he has to go through before leaving the division.
“I think [Topuria] got to fight for the belt, for sure,” Tsarukyan said. “I think he left 145 because of that, because they said, ‘OK, we’re going to give you title fight.’ … Islam doesn’t want to fight him because if he wins, people are going to say, ‘OK, you again beat a 145 fighter and he’s not No. 1 contender.’
“If Islam beats me, I think he’s done with this division. He beat everybody, just he’s got to beat me and then people can say that.”