UFC number four lightweight Arman Tsarukyan (22-3) defeated former champion and number one in the lightweight division Charles Oliveira (34-10) by split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28). The fight took place on the main card of the UFC 300 tournament at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The Russian-Armenian fighter will fight his next fight against division champion Islam Makhachev (25-1). Let us remember that in the first fight, Tsarukyan lost to Makhachev by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) in St. Petersburg (April 20, 2019).
Started with the prohibited ones
On the night of April 14, the UFC 300 anniversary tournament took place in Las Vegas, where Arman Tsarukyan and former lightweight champion Charles Oliveira competed in one of the main events of the evening.
The Brazilian won the title in 2021 thanks to his victory over Michael Chandler. Oliveira then defeated Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje, and in October 2022 lost to Islam Makhachev. In the summer of 2023, Oliveira redeemed himself with a quick victory over Beneil Dariush. He got a rematch with Makhachev, but due to a cut in training 11 days before the fight, he had to withdraw from the fight.
Like Oliveira, Tsarukyan defeated Beneil Dariush in his previous fight and did it even faster – in just 64 seconds. Arman lost only two fights in the UFC: in his debut to Islam Makhachev and in the summer of 2022 to Mateusz Gamrot. If five years ago Makhachev defeated Arman in a matter of fact, then the fight with the Pole turned out to be quite controversial. The fight against Oliveira was supposed to be an indicator by which he and Makhachev could be compared – after all, it would be completely illogical to judge the outcome of the rematch based on their fight five years ago.
The fight began with low kicks from Oliveira – one of them even knocked Tsarukyan down and the Brazilian immediately tried to catch Armand in the guillotine. Oliveira kept Tsarukyan’s neck in a noose until the last moment, but the Russian managed to pull his head out. Charles found himself in full mount and, in an attempt to damage his opponent, hit him with his head – the referee issued a warning, but did not stop the fight. Tsarukyan knocked down the Brazilian and ended up in the top position.
While Tsarukyan was acting from guard and trying to improve the situation, he missed an illegal kick, after which a doctor was needed. Arman was able to continue the fight, the fighters were returned to their original position on the ground – the fighters returned to the stand only for the last 10 seconds before the siren. The Brazilian was not deducted a point, so it was probably him who took the round.
Split decision
The second segment began with active actions in the stand by Tsarukyan. Already in the first minute he threw an ax-kick – impressive and sudden, but not very effective and at the same time energy-consuming. Two minutes after the start of the round, Tsarukyan began to control Oliveira on the ground near the net, where he landed many elbows and cut the Brazilian’s face. This round definitely belonged to Arman.
At the beginning of the final round, the fighters acted on opposite courses, but at the same time tried to be careful. By the middle, Tsarukyan occupied the center of the octagon and began to interrupt Oliveira, simultaneously trying to transfer his opponent to the canvas. Charles allowed this to be done, at the same time grabbing Armand’s neck in a guillotine – Tsarukyan soon got out of there.
A minute and a half before the end, the Russian fighter went behind Oliveira’s back, but made a mistake and Oliveira immediately returned to the original plan, trying to choke Tsarukyan with the d’Arce technique. Tsarukyan endured until the siren, although the tackle looked dangerous.
It seemed that Tsarukyan would take the fight by unanimous decision, but the judges’ opinions were divided: 29:28, 28:29, 29:28. After the fight, Arman was also surprised by the discrepancy in the judges' notes and stated that he wants to fight for the title and become the youngest UFC lightweight champion.
It was previously reported that Islam would meet with Dustin Poirier in June, but Makhachev had already responded to Arman’s victory with a message on social networks. “Get ready, see you soon kid,” he wrote.
Probably, after the fight with Poirier, if he wins over the American, Makhachev’s next opponent will be Arman.
– Islam said: “See you soon, guy”? Well, then, I’ll see you soon, guy,” Tsarukyan answered. — Islam is a fighter of a different level than Oliveira. I need to prepare well for it, tighten up the fight, train in the mountains. I don’t just want to fight for money, I need time to prepare.
Note that in the main fight of UFC 300, Alex Pereira (10-2) successfully made his first title defense, defeating former light heavyweight champion Jamal Hill (12-2) by knockout in the first round.
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