Arman Tsarukyan is confident he’s the one to stop UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev’s run.
Winner of seven of his past eight, Tsarukyan (20-3 MMA, 7-2 UFC) is coming off a third-round TKO of Joaquim Silva less than two weeks ago at UFC on ESPN 47.
In his UFC debut in April 2019, Tsarukyan lost a Fight of the Night effort to Makhachev. Tsarukyan landed one takedown and out struck Makhachev overall, but Makhachev’s six minutes of control time and four takedowns got him the decision win. Makhachev has won seven straight since – including back-to-back wins over Charles Oliveira, and featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski.
“Just me can beat him in our division,” Tsarukyan told Lowkick MMA. “It’s my opinion. … It’s my dream fight. All my focus is to be a champion. That’s why I called him out. We’ll see. Maybe next year we’ll fight with each other. I want to see my improvements. I want to see my skills. That fight, I think (is) the most competitive fight for me.”
Tsarukyan thinks he has the advantage on the feet, and sees himself being able to stuff the champions takedowns if they were to run things back.
“I think I’m going to defend his wrestling and beat him in the standup,” Tsarukyan said. “I believe my striking is better, my kicks, my boxing. He has a good clinch, but I think my footwork, my kicks and my boxing is much better. He has good things in striking, too. We’ve got to be careful. I know how I can beat him and I want to show it to everybody. It’s going to be a tough fight, but I believe in myself and I’ll go there just for the win.”
