Arman Tsarukyan could very properly be combating for the t, after delivering a spectacular efficiency at UFC 331. The Armenian scored a brutal first-round knockout over Mauricio Ruffy within the co-main occasion in Los Angeles, ending the battle with a vicious elbow on the 4:56 mark.
Nevertheless, Tsarukyan needed to survive some severe adversity earlier than producing the highlight-reel end. Ruffy opened the battle with a wonderfully timed straight proper that caught Tsarukyan clear and buckled him.
The shot additionally brought on important swelling below Tsarukyan’s left eye, elevating questions on whether or not the battle may have been stopped had it reached the tip of the opening spherical. As an alternative, Tsarukyan fully flipped the script.
He rapidly went for a single-leg takedown earlier than transitioning to a physique lock in opposition to the cage. Ruffy did a very good job resisting as the 2 battled for place, however Tsarukyan remained relentless. With lower than 10 seconds left within the spherical, he instantly unloaded a brief inside elbow earlier than following it up with one other devastating shot.
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The second elbow landed flush and despatched Ruffy crashing unconscious to the canvas. Tsarukyan was understandably thrilled with the end. He jumped over the cage after the stoppage to have a good time with Hunter Campbell, Dana White, and Nina Drama earlier than making his intentions clear in his post-fight interview.
He mentioned, “I got here right here to avoid wasting this metropolis. At present, Los Angeles goes to have enjoyable. I knew I used to be going to complete him. First elbow is from this coach, second elbow is from this coach. [It has to be] a title battle or Mark Zuckerberg. I wish to battle you subsequent.”
The victory couldn’t have come at a greater time for the 29-year-old, who has spent a lot of the previous two years sitting at No. 1 within the UFC’s light-weight rankings. Tsarukyan has beforehand been s, most notably after pulling out of his scheduled January 2025 battle in opposition to Islam Makhachev at UFC 311.
Since then, he has stayed lively exterior the UFC with a number of grappling bouts and r in November 2025. Now, after violently dispatching Ruffy, Tsarukyan has as soon as once more put himself immediately into the title dialog.
Dana White additionally appeared to acknowledge how a lot Tsarukyan has modified since his earlier setback. Through the 1 post-fight press convention, White mentioned, “Arman? You appear like an fool sitting up right here saying that Arman has achieved something flawed for the reason that shit that he did flawed. I imply, he’s fully flipped all the pieces, turned it round, and he couldn’t be in a greater place now.”
When requested whether or not Tsarukyan may face Justin Gaethje subsequent, White remained noncommittal however left the door open. He added, “I don’t know. Yeah, we’ll see. I imply, we don’t know what Gaethje’s considering but, you understand. He was right here tonight. You understand, he noticed the battle, and we’ll see the place his head’s at.”
Gaethje has already mentioned he doesn’t plan to compete once more till someday in 2027, whereas former champion Ilia Topuria has not too long ago revealed that he has been cleared to return after recovering from his brutal loss at UFC Freedom 250.
For now, Tsarukyan has achieved all the pieces he can management. After a statement-making knockout at UFC 331, it is going to be troublesome to disregard his declare for the subsequent light-weight title alternative.