Arman Tsarukyan Envisions Future Title Defense Against Charles Oliveira

"When I am a champion, I would like to fight with Charles... I would like to finish him" 👀

Arman Tsarukyan foresees defending the lightweight belt against Charles Olivieira if he defeats Islam Makhachev...

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🎙️ @CarolinePearce pic.twitter.com/7W4zDt14DC

— UFC on TNT Sports (@ufcontnt) November 29, 2024

Arman Tsarukyan wants a more decisive win over Charles Oliveira.

Tsarukyan is expected to challenge Islam Makhachev for the lightweight title at UFC 311 in January, although the promotion has yet to make the fight official. “Ahalkalakets” believes the UFC will officially announce the bout within the next week.

“My manager said I’m gonna fight for the title beginning of the next year,” Tsarukyan recently told TNT Sports. “I’m so excited. And hopefully after this event they gonna announce like official, when I’m gonna fight. But they already told me the place where I’m gonna fight, the date when I’m gonna fight. We know, the UFC bosses know… I think in one week it’s gonna be official.”

"They've already told me the place I'm going to fight and the date I'm going to fight" ⏰

Arman Tsarukyan is counting down the days for his date with Islam Makhachev...

🎙️ @CarolinePearce pic.twitter.com/9fABlxbJy5

— UFC on TNT Sports (@ufcontnt) November 29, 2024

Tsarukyan dropped a hard-fought unanimous decision against Makhachev in his UFC debut back in 2019. Tsarukyan blames the short-notice nature of the matchup for his loss and was adamant about not fighting Makhachev on short notice in their rematch. Meanwhile, Makhachev’s team claims the first outing was competitive only because the Dagestani was sick.

Tsarukyan has since racked up nine victories, only dropping a unanimous decision against Mateusz Gamrot in 2022. The Russian has since gone a four-fight winning streak, topped off by a closely contested split-decision win in a title eliminator against Charles Oliveira at UFC 300 this past April. Tsarukyan wants to run it back against Oliveira if can dethrone Makhachev. The 28-year-old wants to finish “Do Bronx” this time around.

“When I’m gonna be a champion, I would like to fight with Charles, because our fight kind of was like pretty close,” Tsarukyan said. “People think very close and I would like to finish him.”