Ex-lightweight champion Charles
Oliveira will square off against Arman
Tsarukyan in a title eliminator bout at UFC
300.
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UFC CEO Dana White announced the booking on Sunday night. The
winner of the 155-pound contest will be next in line to face
Islam
Makhachev, who White revealed is recovering from an injury. UFC
300 takes place on April 13 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and
also includes a light heavyweight showdown pitting Jiri
Prochazka against Aleksandar
Rakic and a featherweight scrap between Aljamain
Sterling and Calvin
Kattar.
Oliveira is coming off a first-round technical knockout victory
over Beneil
Dariush at UFC 289 this past June. That triumph earned “Do
Bronx” a title shot against Islam
Makhachev at UFC 294, but the Brazilian suffered a cut in
training that forced him to withdraw from the October bout.
Oliveira has won 12 of his last 13 promotional outings, with his
lone defeat during that stretch coming via second-round submission
against Makhachev in their first meeting at UFC 280.
Tsarukyan is also seeking a rematch with Makhachev after falling to
the reigning lightweight champ via decision in his Octagon debut at
UFC Fight Night 149 in April 2019. The
American Top Team standout has won eight of nine bouts since
then and will take a three-bout winning streak into the matchup
with Oliveira. Tsarukyan last competed at UFC on ESPN 52, where he
stopped Dariush in just 64 seconds on Dec. 2.