Someone’s winning streak at lightweight is about to end.
Two of the UFC’s up-and-comers at lightweight are set to face off in early 2022.
Following an initial report from journalist Igor Lazorin, MMA Junkie revealed that a matchup between #13 Arman Tsarukyan and #15 Joel Alvarez is slated for a UFC Fight Night card on February 26th at a location to be determined.
Tsarukyan (17-2) is on a four-fight winning streak, with his only loss coming in his UFC debut against Islam Makhachev. After recording decisions over Olivier Aubin-Mercier, Davi Ramos, and Matt Frevola, the 25-year-old Tsarukyan picked up his first stoppage win inside the Octagon with a TKO of Christos Giagos at UFC Vegas 37 in September.
Alvarez (19-2) has also won four straight since dropping his UFC debut to Damir Ismagulov back in February 2019. The Spaniard is coming off a first-round demolition job of Thiago Moises at last month’s UFC Vegas 42, but he did miss weight for the second fight in a row. Despite the struggles on the scale, evidently the UFC is not going to force him up to 170.
The UFC’s February 26th event is headlined by a lightweight matchup between top contenders Beneil Dariush and Islam Makhachev. No broadcast details have been confirmed as of yet.