Arman Tsarukyan is getting ready to make a comeback inside the UFC octagon. After putting up a brave show against Charles Oliveira, Tsarukyan earned the right to get himself in line to challenge for the lightweight gold. Unfortunately, just days before his all-important bout against Islam Makhachev, Tsarukyan pulled out due to an injury. He cited a lower back issue as the root cause for his pulling out. Others opined that Tsarukyan had problems in cutting his weight. Now, with the Armenian fighter looking to get back to business, he had dropped a significant name as his next opponent.
In a recent interview, Tsarukyan stated that he was interested in fighting Paddy Pimblett. He also mentioned how Pimblett has been making a name for himself in recent years. Adding to the fact that the Englishman is undefeated in the UFC, Tsarukyan had another motive for choosing Pimblett. The Armenian stated that ‘The Baddy’ has a lot of fans in the UK and thus, fighting him would make perfect sense for Tsarukyan.
“Maybe he wants to fight at the end of this year but I want to fight this summer and then at the end of this year. So if they did come to you with Paddy and said, let’s put you in for summer, you would take that? Yeah, I’ll take that. I’ll take that because he has a big name,” said Tsarukyan.
"Fighting Paddy makes sense, I need to get more UK fans": @ArmanUFC Tsarukyan says he likes the idea of fighting @PaddyTheBaddy Pimblett if it happens this summer. pic.twitter.com/EklIHbqeGx
— Red Corner MMA (@RedCorner_MMA) May 22, 2025
Surely, Pimblett has been making ripples in recent times. Facing off against Michael Chandler, ‘The Baddy’ put on a show that had the attention of almost all the MMA enthusiasts. Meanwhile, Tsarukyan had a very interesting analysis of the current UFC lightweight roster.
Arman Tsarukyan Points At A Stacked Lightweight Division
The UFC lightweight division is stacked at the moment. After including Ilia Topuria in the mix, the number of championship contenders has increased significantly. This includes the likes of Topuria, Justin Gaethje, Charles Oliveira, and Tsarukyan. Thus, under this scenario, the most viable decision for Islam Makhachev was to move up to the lightweight division. In an April episode of the ‘Jaxxon Podcast,’ Tsarukyan explained why.
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“Islam doesn’t want to fight him because if he wins, people gonna say ‘you again beat 145 fighters’. If Islam beats me, I think he’s done with this division. He beat everybody, he just gotta beat me then people can say that… If [Islam] doesn’t move, then yea [he will fight Topuria],” said Tsarukyan.
Arman Tsarukyan talks about the lightweight title picture, and believes that Ilia Topuria will 'for sure' fight for the title next:
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) April 16, 2025
"I think [Ilia] is gonna fight for the belt, for sure. I think he left 145 because they said 'we gonna give you title fight'.
Islam doesn't want… pic.twitter.com/KZChPrUiBi
Thus, with a lot going on and Arman Tsarukyan looking to make a comeback, it now remains to be seen what happens next.
Also Read: Paddy Pimblett And Arman Tsarukyan Trade Blows In Heated War Of Words Ahead Of UFC 314 Showdown
