The Next Emperor?

Iron sharpens iron (curtain).

Red-hot Russian bruiser Arman Tsarukyan will collide with former lightweight champion Charles Oliveira in a No. 1 contender fight on the upcoming UFC 300 pay-per-view (PPV) main card, scheduled for Sat., April 13, 2024 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

“Do Bronx” fans are currently losing their s—t on social media after “Ahalkalakets” posted a training photo alongside former PRIDE Fighting Championship heavyweight titleholder Fedor Emelianenko, widely-considered one of the greatest heavyweights of all time.

Oliveira (34-9, 1 NC) dropped the strap to Islam Makhachev in the UFC 280 headliner back in late 2022. After disposing of Beneil Dariush at UFC 289 to get himself back into the lightweight title hunt, a late cut in training camp bounced “Do Bronx’ from his Makhachev rematch at UFC 294.

The champion went on to retain by knocking out late-replacement Alex Volkanovski.

Tsarukyan (21-3) dropped a decision to Makhachev in his UFC debut back in early 2019. In the years that followed, “Ahalkalakets” compiled an 8-1 record, which includes his first-round destruction of the aforementioned Dariush at UFC Austin late last year. That performance was good enough to land Tsarukyan at No. 4 in the official lightweight rankings.

UFC 300 does not yet have a main event; however, several bookings have recently been made official. Among them are Jiri Prochazka vs. Aleksandar Rakic (light heavyweight), Kayla Harrison vs. Holly Holm (bantamweight), and Justin Gaethje vs. Max Holloway (lightweight).

For the current UFC 300 fight card and PPV lineup click here.