UFC 300 (April 13-14) will be one of the biggest events in MMA in 2024 and within the evening in Las Vegas, Charles Oliveira (34-9-0) vs Arman Tsarukyan (21-3-0) is one of the fights that raises the most expectations, but the Armenian is already looking beyond him.
The winner gets a ticket to face the lightweight champion Islam Makhachev later this year, provided that the Russian plans to fight (and win, of course) in June… although nothing has been announced yet.
Regardless of that, Tsarukyan is aware of the job in front of him and knows the serious opponent he well step into the Octagon with and isn’t going to underestimated his immediate, upcoming rival.
“There are a lot of important fights, but the number one fight is me against Charles,” Tsarukyan declared to the UFC website. “That’s it. I finally got what I wanted.”
Tsarukyan doesn’t give Oliveira much of a chance, despite the fact that he’ll be facing a former champion and one of the most iconic fighters of recent times.
“I feel like it’s my moment right now,” Tsarukyan added. “It’s very exciting because he’s a former champion and he’s defended, and when I beat him, people will be talking about me. ‘Who is this guy?’ Everybody’s going to know me.”
Tsarukyan vs Makhachev II
The prize is a rematch against Makhachev (who beat him in 2019) is his goal. It was a huge test for him at the time as Tsarukyan made his UFC debut against a highly rated fighter and it proved to be a test too much at that stage.
The Armenian lost the European match-up via unanimous decision but now he’s out to avenge the result five years later.
“Of course, every day I think about [a rematch with Makhachev],” Tsarukyan continued. “To be honest, I think about Oliveira.
“But sometimes I think: ‘Okay, I’m going to win and finally I’m going to fight Islam Makhachev.’ One step and that’s it.”