Arman Tsarukyan aims to break into the top 10 of the UFC lightweight rankings after beating Joel Alvarez
Arman Tsarukyan has sent a message to the rest of the UFC lightweight division after his performance at UFC Vegas 49.
Tsarukyan was victorious in a brutal and bloody fight against Joel Alvarez. The Armenian-Russian fighter stopped Alvarez in the second round and maintained his unbeaten run in the promotion since losing to Islam Makhachev in April 2019.
Taking to Instagram, Tsarukyan thanked all his supporters, and he now seems to be aiming to break into the top 10 of the 155 lb rankings. Check out Tsarukyan's post here (contains graphic image).
Tsarukyan's performance at the UFC Apex received a lot of praise from the MMA community. 'Ahalkalakets' was ruthless on the night, breaking two of his opponent's ribs in the very first round.
Dominance MMA's Ali Abdelaziz took to Twitter to claim that his client Joel Alvarez had suffered a nasty injury. Ali mentioned that the injury was caused after the first takedown from Tsarukyan:
"Joel Alvarez broke his 2 ribs after the first takedown in the first round, very nasty injury."
Check out Ali Abdelaziz's tweet below:
Joel Alvarez broke his 2 ribs after the first takedown in the first round, very nasty injury.
Could Arman Tsarukyan make his way to a title shot in the near future?
Arman Tsarukyan is currently ranked No.13 in the UFC's lightweight division. Ahead of him in the rankings are Mateusz Gamrot (No.12), Rafael Fiziev (No.11) and Gregor Gillespie (No.10).
Among the aforementioned fighters, only Rafael Fiziev currently has a fight booked. He is set to face Rafael dos Anjos in the co-main event of UFC 272. A fight between Tsarukyan and Gillespie would make sense. Several MMA fans have also called for the contest to be booked.
Tsarukyan is yet to beat anyone ranked in the UFC, but he has crossed paths with Islam Makhachev in the past. In 2019, Makhachev defeated Tsarukyan in his UFC debut in Russia via a unanimous decision.
A title shot may not be on the cards for the Georgia-born fighter, at least not in the immediate future. However, if Arman Tsarukyan continues on his current trajectory, anything is possible.