Arman Tsarukyan is still in the doghouse, regardless of how “angry” he is about it.
Partly because of his uncontrollable temper, but mostly because the No. 1-ranked lightweight contender missed weight for
his UFC 311 title fight and nearly screwed the promotion out its scheduled pay-per-view (PPV) event in Los Angeles.
I’m sure this embarrassing display of conduct didn’t help.
No matter the reason, the 29 year-old Tsarukyan is getting too old to wait around for another lightweight title shot, especially since current 155-pound champion, Ilia Topuria, has been sidelined until further notice. Not that ”El Matador” was breaking any frequency records before his departure.
That’s why “Ahalkalakets” is setting his sights on the “BMF” belt.
“Well, maybe BMF title,” Tsarukyan told Ariel Helwani. “I want the real title, but I don’t want to wait until then. Ilia, he fights once a year. Maybe he defends his title in June and says, ‘Okay, I’ll fight next year, in June.’ Then what can I do? I’m not that young to wait a lot, too. So, if they give me the BMF title, that would be great too. If Charles Oliveira wins, it’s going to be good. We’ve got a story. [I’ll] just get that belt, and then the real belt.”
Tsarukyan narrowly defeated Oliveira by split decision at UFC 300.
With Justin Gaethje battling Paddy Pimblett for the substitute strap atop the UFC 324 fight card later this month in Las Vegas, Max Holloway will defend the “BMF” strap against Oliveira in the UFC 326 main event in March. That said, the winner of Holloway vs. Oliveira may be more interested in a crack at the 155-pound crown than a showdown against the 23-3 Tsarukyan, one of the best wrestlers in the division.
Time will tell.
