Lightweight Rankings Shakeup: Arman Tsarukyan surges into top 5, Jalin Turner cracks top 10 after stellar UFC Austin victories
It appears as though there is a shakeup in the lightweight division after Arman Tsarukyan and Jalin Turner's impressive wins this past weekend at UFC Austin.
Both fighters took full advantage of their respective opportunity and made big gains in the updated UFC lightweight rankings. TSN MMA reporter Aaron Bronsteter tweeted out a photo of the updated lightweight rankings, which shows how many spots they climbed.
He tweeted:
"Arman Tsarukyan moves into the top-5 and Jalin Turner moves into the top-10 of the lightweight division in the updated rankings"
Jalin Turner moved to No.10 in the UFC lightweight rankings after he earned an impressive first-round knockout over Bobby Green in the co-main event. What made 'The Tarantula's performance more impressive was that he didn't have a full training camp for the bout, as he had stepped in to replace Dan Hooker on a week's notice.
'Ahalkalakets', on the other hand, earned a highlight-reel knockout of his own as he finished Beneil Dariush in 1:04 in the main event, which earned him a post-fight bonus for Performance of the Night. As a result of Arman Tsarukyan's knockout win over Dariush, he made a significant surge up the rankings as he moved up four spots from No.8 to No.4 and is now in the mix for a potential title shot.
Arman Tsarukyan has been on a roll in the lightweight division, as the win extended his winning streak to three consecutive wins. Now that he is in the top-5, he could be one impressive win away from earning a UFC lightweight title, especially considering that he is the only lightweight in the top five that hasn't earned a title shot.
It remains to be seen whether the No.4 ranked UFC lightweight will get his rematch against Islam Makhachev, who defeated him via unanimous decision in his promotional debut in 2019. It would be interesting to see what would transpire in a rematch, as they have both significantly improved since their first encounter.