Arman Tsarukyan Reveals Possible Date for UFC Title Fight vs Islam Makhachev

Arman Tsarukyan announces a new date for his highly anticipated fight against Islam Makhachev, reigniting excitement for their upcoming UFC clash.

By Debmallya Chakraborty

Published on Aug 27, 2024 | 04:31 PM IST | 268.2K

Arman Tsarukyan

Arman Tsarukyan will probably be facing Islam Makhachev for the lightweight championship in December. After initially slated for an October bout, both Tsarukyan and Makhachev had some issues that led the UFC to postpone the bout. However, in a recent interaction with Red Corner MMA, Tsarukyan revealed that UFC 310 would probably be the event that will determine who the lightweight champion will be.

Tsarukyan stated, “[The fight with Islam] was supposed to take place in October… But they have put it off. Now it’s being negotiated for December… It depends on when Islam is coming back, if he needs a surgery and he returns next spring then they will put an interim title on the line.” Arman Tsarukyan was pitted against Charles Oliveira in UFC 300. Considered one of the toughest fights of his career, Tsarukyan suffered a huge scare in the early minutes of the match.

Charles Oliveira caught Tsarukyan in a stranglehold which looked quite dangerous. While everyone thought that Tsarukyan would tap out, the MMA athlete showed impeccable endurance to snap out of the submission move. As the match went on, Tsarukyan went on to put on a stellar show of striking to beat Oliveira and set up a date with Islam Makhachev. Unfortunately, Tsarukyan got involved in a physical spat with a spectator during his UFC 300 entrance.

This led him to get slapped with a nine-month ban, which resulted in the postponement of their October bout. However, in another update, Islam Makhachev also stated that he has incurred significant damage to his hand from the Dustin Poirier fight. Makhachev then said that he was not sure whether surgery was to be needed. If indeed Makhachev opts for surgery, the division will be expected to host an interim championship.

Turning back the pages, Islam Makhachev and Arman Tsarukyan have met once in the UFC. It was incidentally the debut match of Tsarukyan in the Dana White-led promotion. However, Tsarukyan has come a long way since that loss and is currently the number one contender for Islam Makhachev’s championship title.

Meanwhile, UFC 310 is also rumored to host Conor McGregor vs Michael Chandler. Although nothing has been officially confirmed by the UFC yet, there seems to be widespread confusion brewing regarding the UFC’s December PPV. Thus, with several fights being claimed to headline UFC 310, it will be intriguing to follow what happens next.

ALSO READ: Islam Makhachev Takes Dig at Arman Tsarukyan for Talking Too Much: ‘He Just Speaks’