"I'm not gonna wait" - Arman Tsarukyan says he wants to face Tony Ferguson if Dan Hooker loses UFC 266 fight
Following his emphatic victory at UFC Vegas 37, Arman Tsarukyan made it clear that he wanted to fight the top guys in the division. The No.14-ranked lightweight has revealed that he wishes to take on Kiwi knockout artist Dan Hooker next.
"If Dan Hooker can't come, I can like, change him but after that, my coach called me and said 'don't do that, you have to do recovery and preparation, have a camp, and just after that you can fight with him because he's good opponent for you.' If he win, I can wait [for] him, if he loses, I think I'm not gonna wait [for] him and I'm gonna call[out] someone else. Our division, there are a lot of good guys and I can fight with everyone but I said already, I'd like to fight with Tony Ferguson," Arman Tsarukyan said at the post-fight press conference.
'The Hangman' is currently scheduled to fight Nasrat Haqparast at the upcoming UFC 266 pay-per-view on September 25.
THE HANGMAN IS BACK‼️
🇳🇿 @danthehangman returns next month to face @Nasrat_mma at #UFC266! https://t.co/TCgoGMyqG2
If Hooker beats Haqparast, Arman Tsarukyan is happy to wait until the Kiwi is ready to fight again. However, if 'The Hangman' loses, Tsarukyan wishes to face Tony Ferguson instead.
Watch the press conference below:
Does Arman Tsarukyan vs. Tony Ferguson make sense?
Arman Tsarukyan and Tony Ferguson are at different stages of their respective UFC careers.
'El Cucuy' has suffered a catastrophic dip in form since his loss to Justin Gaethje at UFC 249. After a 12-fight winning streak, Ferguson has now lost his last three fights. None of the contests were close. 'El Cucuy' was comprehensively beaten by Gaethje, Charles Oliveira and Beneil Dariush.
Meanwhile, Tsarukyan is on the rise. He is likely to break into the top 10 of the lightweight division with a few more wins. The 24-year-old has now won four out of his last five fights inside the octagon. A victory against Tony Ferguson could boost his rise to the division's upper echelons.
I’m only warming up 👊🏼 twitter.com/ufc/status/143…