Arman Tsarukyan questions why he's not fighting Charles Oliveira at UFC 331

Arman Tsarukyan, the current No. 1 contender in the UFC lightweight division, expressed his confusion regarding the UFC's decision to not schedule a fight between him and Charles Oliveira at UFC 331. Tsarukyan, who has a record of 23-3 (10-2 in UFC), was initially expected to face Oliveira in the co-main event of the event taking place on September 19 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.

However, the promotion revealed that Tsarukyan will instead fight rising contender Mauricio Ruffy. Tsarukyan confirmed that the fight against Oliveira was indeed the original plan, stating, "I was supposed to fight with Charles – co-main event, five rounds." He then spoke about the change of plans, saying, "Then I went for my training camp, and then they, two weeks later, when I was in the mountains, called me and said, We got a new name for you.

It s Rufy." Tsarukyan expressed his willingness to fight Oliveira again, noting, "I said, OK, no problem, because I don t want to pull out and wait for the Charles (rematch) because it s L.A., five rounds. You know, it s a big card, and I haven t fought in a long time, and I need this fight." The UFC's decision to replace Oliveira with Ruffy came after the death of Oliveira's friend and teammate Allan Nascimento, which Tsarukyan believes was used as an excuse by Oliveira to avoid fighting him.

Tsarukyan remains skeptical of this explanation, stating, "In three days or four days, he s doing live streams and, like, back in the camp, and they probably already set it up with Diego Lopes." He also speculated that the UFC might book Oliveira vs. Lopes for the BMF title, as UFC featherweight Lopes recently posted a photo with UFC chief business officer Hunter Campbell, indicating his desire to move up to lightweight.