Arman Tsarukyan knows when it comes to his future in RAF there may be no bigger and better opponent than fellow UFC fighter Colby Covington.
That’s why Tsarukyan called for that match just after he scored a lopsided 13-1 technical fall victory over Urijah Faber in the RAF 8 main event. While Covington is currently scheduled as the co-main event against former UFC champion Chris Weidman at RAF 9 in May, Tsarukyan acknowledged that he would provide a lot more attention, especially given the growing
rivalry between them.
While things were mostly cordial between them on stage after Covington answered Tsarukyan’s call, the top ranked UFC lightweight contender isn’t looking to just win that match. Tsarukyan wants to embarrass him.
“I’m looking for 10-0 [victory],” Tsarukyan said about facing Covington. “I want to dominate him. I don’t want give any points like I gave to Urijah today because he’s a little bit old and it’s not good to win 10-0 also.
“But against Colby, I’m going to go hard and try to make it 10-0 in the first round and kick his ass. Everybody is going to forget about him in wrestling and everybody already forgot about him in UFC.”
For his part, Covington already gave his blessing to set aside the matchup against Weidman to instead turn his full attention towards wrestling Tsarukyan in May.
First things first, the UFC has to sign off on any matchup like that involving two current athletes under contract and to date, the promotion seemingly hasn’t allowed any active fighters to clash in RAF.
Still, Covington said that he already spoke to UFC chief business officer Hunter Campbell about allowing the matchup against Tsarukyan to happen. Considering they fight in different weight classes in MMA, perhaps the UFC might allow Tsarukyan and Covington to meet in RAF.
As far as moving on from Weidman as Covington’s next opponent, Tsarukyan just knows how much more attention he’s going to bring to that match.
It’s no different than how Tsarukyan would treat his UFC career if the matchmakers came calling with two offers and he had to choose which one could bring more eyeballs to a fight.
“Because for example if they tell me I’m fighting with [Justin] Gaethje or they’re going to give you Conor McGregor, I’m going to forget about Gaethje and take Conor McGregor,” Tsarukyan said. “It’s the same thing here.
“It’s a big fight, big wrestling right now. He beat everybody in RAF, I beat everybody so we are both the best wrestlers from the UFC. It’s going to be big [for] wrestling. I’m so excited. And he talks a lot so I want to shut his mouth.”
