Arman Tsarukyan was supposed to face Islam Makhachev for the lightweight title earlier this year, but now he just watched Makhachev capture the welterweight title at UFC 322, and he was quite impressed.
Now, Tsarukyan looks to get back to the top of the 155-pound championship queue is as faces Dan Hooker in the main event of Saturday’s UFC Qatar card in a pivotal matchup. The scheduled five-round tilt takes place at Ali Bin Hamad al-Attiyah Arena in the promotion’s debut in Doha, and the card streams
on ESPN+.
Tsarukyan saw what Makhachev did in his dominant decision victory over Jack Della Maddalena at Madison Square Garden this past Saturday, and not only can he tip his cap, but Tsarukyan believes defeating Makhachev will be quite the feat for anyone — at either 155 or 170.
“A very good performance,” Tsarukyan told MMA Fighting. “I was shocked how he beat [Della Maddalena] so easy. It says what Islam level [is at right now], you know, he’s doing different level right now. He’s [in] his prime.
“And I don’t know who can stop him right now, [at] 170 even.”
Tsarukyan was slated to headline UFC 311 against Makhachev for the lightweight championship in January, but a back injury forced Tsarukyan out of the bout the day before the event. The 29-year-old faced a lot of backlash from the fan base, and even had UFC CEO Dana White saying the top-ranked contender would have to “fight his way back” to a title shot.
While having to withdraw from his first title fight was difficult, Tsarukyan revealed the biggest lesson he took from it.
“Don’t overtrain,” Tsarukyan said. “That’s the most important thing that I learned about the pull out.
“That’s why I hurt myself always. That’s why I try to do a lot of hiking when I want to train, or do something different, [like] walk or do bike, and don’t do a lot of wrestling that I used to. Trying to save my my energy.”
With Makhachev out of the picture, the division looks a bit different with Ilia Topuria holding the 155-pound title following Topuria’s first-round knockout of Charles Oliveira at UFC 317 in June.
Tsarukyan is happy to play the hand the lightweight division has been dealt, but where he sits, he wishes things stayed the way they were at the beginning of the year.
“Yeah, [it’s] pretty good [with Topuria as lightweight champ],” Tsarukyan explained. “[It’s] pretty good, yeah. But I wish Islam was a champion in our division… because he takes fights with contenders and fights with everybody, but Ilia’s trying to find easy fights for him.”
