Arman Tsarukyan is weighing his options and he has two UFC legends in his sights.
Behind the first door is an obvious matchup with lightweight champion Justin Gaethje. “The Highlight” finally claimed an undisputed title this past June at UFC White House with an all-time great performance against the undefeated Ilia Topuria, but has been recovering from injury as he targets a return in 2027 with no opponent set for his defense.
Behind Door No. 2 is, surprisingly, Alexander Volkanovski. Helen Yee Sports spoke to Tsarukyan ahead of his RAF 14 main event match with Dillon Danis this past Friday, and Tsarukyan discussed the prospect of facing either Gaethje or Volkanovski next.
“Someone is trying to duck me,” Tsarukyan said. It’s Justin Gaethje. Now he’s talking about retirement.”
Gaethje has made no indication that he plans to retire as champion, though earlier this year he admitted “the end is near.” Tsarukyan believes the UFC is going to have to put their best foot forward financially to convince Gaethje to compete again.
“Either UFC is going to pay him so much money that he’s going to fight, or he’s just going to retire,” Tsarukyan said. “They told me they’re going to let me know at the end of November.”
Tsarukyan was also asked if he’d be interested in fighting Volkanovski should he win at UFC 333. Previously, Tsarukyan has teased that he could drop down to 145 pounds to fight Volkanovski, but with Volkanovski successfully defending his title against Movsar Evloev in Saturday’s main event and then subsequently calling for his own fight with Gaethje, it’s possible Tsarukyan could welcome Volkanovski back to his division instead.
“Yeah, I would fight him,” Tsarukyan said. “I think it’s a good fight for me, stylistically. He’s old. Bad chin. He’s a tough opponent, but he’s a little bit old now and with me it’s a perfect fight.”
Should Gaethje and Volkanovski end up out of the equation and the lightweight title is up for grabs, Tsarukyan will be in the mix for a vacant title fight along with names such as Topuria, Paddy Pimblett, and upcoming “BMF” title combatants Charles Oliveira and Diego Lopes.
Any of those names are more than satisfactory for Tsarukyan.
“Paddy, Ilia, or winner of Oliveira and Lopes,” Tsarukyan said, adding, “All of them on the same level, it’s not going to be hard for me.”