Did Tsarukyan Just Leap Frog Oliveira And Gaethje?

The UFC Lightweight title picture is now possibly up in the air.

No. 8 ranked Lightweight Arman Tsarukyan picked up a huge win last night at UFC Austin (Sat., Dec. 2, 2023) when he demolished No. 4 ranked Beneil Dariush in 64 seconds via vicious ground and pound from inside the Moody Center in Austin, Texas (watch highlights). Tsarukyan picked up his fourth Performance of the Night bonus with his violent knockout.

After his win, Tsarukyan called for a title fight against Islam Makhachev, and while most thought it was an empty call-out because of the current Lightweight log jam, UFC CEO Dana White doesn’t think so.

“It does [throw a wrench into things]. I mean, you definitely have to look at how he looked tonight. And I don’t know, we’ll see what happens,” White told the media during the UFC Austin post-fight press conference (watch here).

White believes the rematch between Tsarukyan and Makhachev can be enormous, especially in the Middle East.

“[The fight will be] Big. Yeah, it’s a great stylistic matchup. That’s a great fight,” White concluded.

Tsarukyan gave Makhachev all he could handle in 2019 on short notice, losing a very competitive unanimous decision in his UFC debut. With Tsarukyan riding a three-fight win streak and sleeping Dariush like he did, a rematch could be close and would be awesome.

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For complete UFC Austin results, coverage, and highlights click HERE.