Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Lightweight standouts Arman Tsarukyan vs. Mauricio Ruffy will collide this weekend (Sat., Sept. 19, 2026) inside Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California for UFC 331.
Is Tsarukyan the uncrowned Lightweight champion of the world? The Armenian wrestler hasn’t lost a fight in four years, but a last-second injury (or weight miss) denied him the opportunity to rematch Islam Makhachev. Since that January 2025 mishap, Tsarukyan has fought just once, pulverizing Dan
Hooker to remain a top Lightweight contender.
The 29-year-old talent hopes to finally secure his shot at UFC gold here.
Ruffy, just a year older, is one of the most promising new contenders at 155 pounds. Getting smashed on the floor by Benoit Saint Denis slowed his roll, but Ruffy is such an electric striker that it’s hard not to get excited about the Brazilian’s potential. Ahead of this fight, Ruffy moved his training camp to work with the great Alexander Volkanovski, and we’ll see if that move shores up the holes in his grappling.
Let’s take a closer look at the betting odds and strategic keys for each athlete:
Tsarukyan vs. Ruffy Betting Odds
- Arman Tsarukyan victory: -340
- Arman Tsarukyan via TKO/KO/DQ: TBD
- Arman Tsarukyan via submission: TBD
- Arman Tsarukyan via decision: TBD
- Mauricio Ruffy victory: +250
- Mauricio Ruffy via TKO/KO/DQ: TBD
- Mauricio Ruffy via submission: TBD
- Mauricio Ruffy via decision: TBD
- Odds via FanDuel Sportsbook
How Tsarukyan Wins
Tsarukyan is an outstanding wrestler with one of the best ground striking attacks in the modern UFC. Tsarukyan doesn’t just hold his opponents down; he pummels them with elbows and hard punches. On the feet, Tsaurkyan has a fast and dextrous left kick that helps cover up his deficits in height and reach.
This is 100% a wrestler vs. striker matchup. Tsarukyan does not want to trade punches, who has faster, longer, and more powerful boxing. When “BSD” defeated Ruffy, he wisely did so by wasting almost no time in pursuing the takedown.
Ruffy has a great 1-2, but he’s always been a striker who loves and relies heavily upon the flashy offense. He would be rather spin into a kick or time that perfect look-away uppercut then just poke at his opponent with the jab. Tsarukyan’s goal should be to pressure just long enough to bring out that kind of offense, and then immediately aim to smother him once he’s out of position.
Being flashy gets difficult once wrestling fatigue sets in.
How Ruffy Wins
Ruffy is one of the sport’s most electric strikers. He proved against Rafael Fiziev that there’s substance in addition to style, however, using long straight punches to time the shorter kickboxer with a piston of a right hand. In his last bout versus Michael Chandler, Ruffy did really well to maintain distance against an opponent looking to wrestle, but then … it’s 40-year-old Michael Chandler.
Ruffy made several critical errors versus Saint Denis that he cannot afford to repeat here. For one, he was too aggressive with his jump knees and big kicks, which left him in poor position to wrestle when “BSD” ducked onto the waist. The jab should be Ruffy’s best friend here. He has to force Tsarukyan to reckon with every inch of that height and reach disadvantage, force the wrestler to take risks to close distance.
It’s easy to be critical of Ruffy’s flash, but the man has remarkable timing on his counter shots. If he’s stabbing at Tsarukyan with long straight shots, he’ll be able to see the takedown attempts coming. Suddenly, Tsarukyan will have to box his way into a shot, which has never really been his strong suit.
Trading with Ruffy for any length of time probably ends badly.
Tsarukyan vs. Ruffy Prediction
It is impossible to pick Ruffy with any kind of confidence. You can believe in the Brazilian striker, sure. He’s got the kind of timing and power to make miracles happen in the cage. He’s training with a great camp that has surely identified needs to be fixed on his ends, as well as the openings in Tsarukyan’s defense.
There’s certainly a chance he knocks Tsarukyan out cold.
Unfortunately, the shadow of the Saint Denis fight hangs over this contest like a bat. Not only was Ruffy taken down inside a minute, but the Frenchman put him in terrible positions like mount in a similarly short time. Tsarukyan is a significantly better wrestler with deadly ground-and-pound — how is Ruffy going to last when he’s put in similar positions?
One can hope for the picture-perfect KO, but smart money is on a mauling.
