Arman
Tsarukyan believes he did enough to warrant another crack at
reigning lightweight champion Islam
Makhachev.
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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.”