Brendan Miller
Arman Tsarukyan’s path to a lightweight title shot and a rematch with champion Islam Makhachev appears incredibly close to completion.
Despite a dangerous choke attempt from D’Arce in the final seconds of the third round, Tsarukyan was able to survive until the final horn to narrowly overcome former champion Charles Oliveira via split decision on Saturday in a 155-pound feature bout. at UFC 300 inside T-Arena Mobile in Las Vegas.
Tsarukyan (35-9) relied on timely takedowns and a patient offensive attack to move one step closer to avenging a competitive decision loss to Makhachev in his UFC debut in 2019. The Georgia-born Russian-Armenian took home a pair of scores 29-28, while the third judge scored the same for Oliveira. CBS Sports also scored the fight 29-28 for Tsarukyan.
“It was five years ago, on my UFC debut, in a short space of time, that I gave Makhachev his toughest fight to date,” Tsarukyan said. “I’ll win if he gives me that opportunity, that’s it.”
Whether or not Tsarukyan gets his next shot at Makhachev may depend on the weather, as veteran Dustin Poirier is fresh off a decisive win over Benoit Sant-Denis. The next lightweight title challenger could also come from the winner of Saturay’s BMF title fight between Justin Gaethje and Max Holloway.
Either way, Tsarukyan put in a performance worthy of title consideration as he broke free of a deep guillotine attempt in the first round against Oliveira, who holds the UFC record for submission and stoppage wins.
Even more important, Tsarukyan never lost his balance or game plan within the natural chaos that Oliveira (34-10, 1 NC) brings to almost every fight. Tsarukyan scored an important takedown in the second round and cut Oliveira’s face with elbows.
“Thank you very much to Oliveira. He is one of the good guys in our division who gave me this opportunity,” Tsarukyan said. “I don’t know why a judge gave this to him, but it’s OK. It doesn’t matter because I won and I want to fight for the title next. I will be the youngest champion in the 155-pound division. .”
With the fight seemingly wide open in the final round, Tsarukyan secured a late takedown in the third round and maintained control until a late reversal from Oliveira produced a threatening choke in the closing seconds.
“I thought all the judges would give me this, but it is what it is,” Tsarukyan said. “I got a win just by taking the submission and Charles is so strong that I have to work on my skills and come back much stronger.”
Tsarukyan improved to 9-1 since his loss to Makhachev, which includes a disputed decision loss to Mateusz Gamrot in 2022. Oliveira, 34, suffered his first loss since being submitted by Makhachev in their vacant title fight two years ago.
