Off the back of his stunning opening round knockout win over Beneil Dariush at UFC Austin over the course of last weekend, surging Armenian contender, Arman Tsarukyan has called for a title-eliminator fight with former undisputed champion, Charles Oliveira – urging the Brazilian to determine the next challenger to Islam Makhachev’s throne.
Tsarukyan, who headlined UFC Fight Night Austin over the course of last weekend in Texas, landed a stunning opening round knockout win over the above-mentioned common-foe, Dariush – stopping the Iranian grappler with a thunderous right hook inside just a minute of the first frame.
As for Oliveira, the former undisputed lightweight champion currently holds the number one rank in the official divisional rankings, most recently turning in a stunning first round ground strikes TKO win of his own against Dariush back in June of this year, returning to the winner’s enclosure.
Forced from a slated October rematch with Makhachev through a nasty laceration ahead of a UFC 294 title rematch, Oliveira has been pegged to fight the Russian as soon as March of next year by color-commentator, Daniel Cormier, however, a pairing has yet to be booked officially.
Arman Tsarukyan calls out Charles Oliveira
And as far as the newly-minted number four rated, Tsarukyan, a title-eliminator against the Sao Paulo favorite should be made next by the promotion.
“If (Charles) Oliveira thinks he is number one contender, and he’s got the fight, let’s fight and let’s figure out who is number one,” Arman Tsarukyan told MMA Fighting. “If he wins, he can go to the title, if I win, I’ll go.”
“He pulled out from the last fight and he just beat Beneil Dariush and lost to Islam (Makhachev) so it’s like 99% he’s going to lose to Islam [again],” Arman Tsarukyan continued. “So, if they want to see that fight, yeah go ahead, but if they want to see a new generation, new fighter, they gotta put me on that fight and I’m going to show the world like who is the best in our division.”
Who wins in a future fight: Arman Tsarukyan or Charles Oliviera?