Arman Tsarukyan wasted no time calling for a title shot after Justin Gaethje claimed the UFC lightweight belt from Ilia Topuria in the main event of UFC Freedom 250 at the White House.
Tsarukyan, 23-3 in MMA and 10-2 in the UFC, has been long labeled the No. 1 contender in the UFC lightweight rankings and says there’s no debate about who should be next for Gaethje. “It has to be me. Who else?” Tsarukyan said during an appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show.
He dismissed the idea of other names jumping the line. “What are they going to do? They're going to putCharles Oliveiravs. Justin Gaethje or Conor McGregor, if he wins, and I don't think he wins versusMax Holloway? It's me. I want to beat Justin Gaethje. I want to beat everybody, and when Ilia is going to be ready, I want to be the champion, and I'll do same as Justin did and even worse.”
Tsarukyan revealed he actually missed Gaethje’s win live due to a flight without Wi-Fi. “I couldn't watch the fight,” he said. “I was flying on British Airlines, and I thought they were going to have internet. I was flying business class. They don't have Wi-Fi on that plane, and I was sitting and saying, 'No way. How can I miss this fight?,' and eight hours, I was thinking of what happened. When we land, my internet is still didn't work, but my friend's internet worked, and he said, 'Justin won,' and I said, 'What?' I thought he was kidding.”
