Arman Tsarukyan might never meet Islam Makhachev in the cage again, but he knows there’s a way he can still get the better of him.
The two first fought in Tsarukyan’s debut in 2019, when Tsarukyan, then just 22 years old, jumped on a short-notice opportunity to fight Makhachev at a UFC event in Russia. Makhachev won a hard-fought battle and became UFC champion three years later, with Tsarukyan eventually working his way back to a title shot against Makhachev at UFC 311 in January 2025. That opportunity infamously ended in disaster when a back injury forced Tsarukyan out of the contest.
Makhachev has since vacated the lightweight title and gone up a division to become welterweight champion, so will Tsarukyan chase his longtime rival should he claim gold himself at 155 pounds?
“Not yet,” Tsarukyan said on the Deep Waters show. “At least five title defenses. … I want to beat the record in the lightweight division. So Islam had four defenses, so I want to make five and then we’ll see or I retire or go up to 170, because I’ve got to gain weight for 170.”
Before Makhachev, no lightweight had ever defended their UFC title four times, but Makhachev hit that mark at UFC 311 when he made short work of Tsarukyan’s replacement, Renato Moicano. In his absence, Topuria claimed a vacant belt with a knockout over Charles Oliveira, but fell short in his first defense when he suffered a stunning upset at the hands of Justin Gaethje at UFC White House this past June.
Tsarukyan has his sights set on Gaethje, but first he has to deal with Mauricio Ruffy in the co-main event of UFC 331 on Sept. 19. Beating Ruffy and then beating Gaethje would finally place Tsarukyan at the mountaintop, and he expects Topuria to meet him there.
“Either he’s going to be super good or after this fight he’s not going to recover,” Tsarukyan said of Topuria, when prompted for a name for his first title defense. “Depends how he’s going to look. I think he’s going to be more motivated, he’s going to focus on his training camp. No bullshit. Before that, just locked, trained, because he’s an incredible fighter.”
Even if Tsarukyan is victorious at UFC 331, there are no guarantees he’s next for Gaethje, though Tsarukyan has indicated in interviews that the matchmakers have at least given him a verbal promise. Asked how he would book the top of the division, Tsarukyan is confident he fights Gaethje soon, and added that Paddy Pimblett could also be in the mix.
“Me vs. Gaethje,” Tsarukyan said. “Topuria vs. Paddy Pimblett. The fight makes sense, but they’re not going to do this fight because they need both, they don’t want Paddy to lose, they don’t want again Ilia to lose, so they’re going to give to Ilia someone easy.
“I feel like they want Paddy to fight for the title again, so they’re going to give him an easy money fight. I think he can beat Max Holloway. If you see Max’s wrestling, it’s nothing, you know? Paddy at least has a takedown. [Holloway] used to have [good wrestling defense], not anymore. It’s gone.”
