Drake Riggs Uncrowned Tue, Sep 22, 2026 · 3 min read About Our Ads Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Arman Tsarukyan has done everything in his power to secure a UFC lightweight title shot.
UFC 331 was the latest successful chapter in Tsarukyan's story, as he continues to win his way back into a championship bout. Taking on Brazilian knockout artist Mauricio Ruffy, Tsarukyan stunned the Los Angeles crowd Saturday with a vicious first-round elbow knockout. The win marked his sixth straight in the UFC.
Tsarukyan said on Tuesday's edition of "The Ariel Helwani Show" that he was told both before and after his win that his next fight will be for UFC gold. But he's still not confident that means he'll face the current champion Justin Gaethje.
"Maybe Gaethje's going to say, 'I don't want to fight anymore,' and retire. You never know. Either retirement or he's going to ask for a big check," Tsarukyan told Uncrowned.
"I think they're going to pay him good money, and he's going to stay. ... If they give him the opportunity to pick me or Ilia [Topuria], he would pick Ilia because he already beat him. He knows that he can beat him twice.
"I'd be very happy to fight him because I know he has a couple more fights and he's going to retire. To have [his name] on my win streak, it would be amazing."
Gaethje stopped former two-division champion Topuria in a shocking result at UFC Freedom 250 to win the title this past June. As fate would have, Topuria finally reemerged in the public eye during UFC 331 fight week and called for a Gaethje rematch. Tsarukyan expects Topuria to keep jockeying for a title fight rematch in the coming weeks.
Regardless of Topuria's presence in the title picture, the 29-year-old Tsarukyan is confident he has nothing to worry about.
"Now that I got a good performance, there is no doubt that I'm fighting for the title next," Tsarukyan said. "Before fight, they told me [I was next]. After the fight, they told me the same . They were happy with my performance, and they said, 'We're going to work on your title fight.'
"This time I was a good boy. I didn't have [a] bad [situation], I didn't do something crazy. They liked how the crowd was there, how the fight week and everything went. They can see I'm professional, and they can see that I can knock people out and perform very well."
Tsarukyan's title shot arguably should have come sooner than it will, after injury forced his withdrawal against the then-champion Islam Makhachev at UFC 311 in January 2025.
Whether or not he faces Gaethje for the belt, Tsarukyan sees himself in a title fight next. In the meantime, Topuria can face his longtime rival Paddy Pimblett, said Tsarukyan.
"Depends on how Ilia's going to look like," Tsarukyan said. "Because either he's going to look super good and knock out Paddy, or he's going to lose to him bad. Paddy has a good chin, and Topuria wins usually by KO. It's going to be hard to knock out Paddy, and Paddy has good cardio as well, so it's like 50/50.
"Maybe Topuria is going to be more motivated and more hungry and going to lock in and become way better than he was before."
Source: Sports
0 Comments