A
rematch with Charles Oliveira appears to be a possibility for Arman
Tsarukyan. | Getty/UFC
The stakes could be quite high when Arman
Tsarukyan is ready to return to the Octagon.
The
UFC lightweight contender offered some insight into his next
MMA fight during a recent video blog posted on his YouTube
channel.
Advertisement
„My next fight is the title fight, which is probably in September
in L.A.,“ Tsarukyan said. „But I’m a backup for the White House,
too, if someone pulls out or gets hurt. … I may fight him
[Charles
Oliveira] again.”
Plenty to Be Determined
There are a lot of moving parts involved with Tsarukyan’s
statement. The UFC has yet to announce its schedule for September,
but if Tsarukyan is correct, the promotion will hold a major event
in California around that time. Ilia
Topuria is currently slated to defend the lightweight belt
against Justin
Gaethje in the main event of
UFC White House on June 14. There has been speculation that if
Topuria wins that fight, he will move to the welterweight division.
If that is the case, Tsarukyan seems to be indicating that a
rematch with Oliveira could be for the vacant 155-pound belt. He
defeated “do Bronxs” via split decision in a No. 1 contender’s bout
at UFC 300.
Tsarukyan hasn’t competed in MMA since last November, when he
submitted Dan Hooker in
the
UFC Qatar main event. The
American Top Team standout wasn’t supposed to challenge
Islam
Makhachev for lightweight gold at UFC 311, but he fell out of
the promotion’s good graces after pulling out of the fight just
shortly before the event. Tsarukyan has remained active even when
not fighting for the UFC, as he has gone 5-0 under the Real
American Freestyle banner in 2026 alone.
In addition to serving as the backup fighter for the UFC White
House main event, Tsarukyan has RAF matches scheduled against
Tony
Ferguson on June 13 and against Colby
Covington on July 18.