“Hard to argue that [Arman Tsarukyan] does not deserve a title shot”, per ex-UFC champion who faced Tsarukyan

Arman Tsarukyan is someone who should be next up to fight for the UFC lightweight belt in the eyes of many and a former kingpin of the UFC’s 155 pound division has weighed in on the curious situation the top contender finds himself in. The combatant in question is Benson Henderson who grappled with Tsarukyan quasi-recently in a grappling contest that saw the latter win via submission at ACBJJ 18.

Through the athletic meritocracy lens, Tsarukyan should be getting the UFC title shot in the eyes of many, but instead reigning champ Ilia Topuria will fight interim belt holder Justin Gaethje at UFC Freedom 250 this weekend. When simply asked what does this guy have to do to get the next crack at the UFC crown, Henderson said [via Bowks Talking Bouts],

“What I do love for Arman is that he’s staying busy. He’s staying active. He’s competing. Me as a competitor, I love that. Whether it’s wrestling, jiu-jitsu, whether it’s Karate Combat, boxing, just staying busy, staying active. I think it helps keep you sharp. If you’re a fighter in the middle of your prime of your career, you need to stay busy. You need to stay sharp. So, if you do get a call on one week notice, you’re ready to go.”

“You’re ready to be firing on all cylinders. I like that Arman is staying busy. He’s winning. I don’t know what else you need to do, what he needs to do, but he’s winning. He’s winning pretty impressively. So, hopefully for him, God bless him, hopefully for him he gets a title shot pretty soon. Because it’s hard to argue that he does not deserve a title shot.”

Arman Tsarukyan is not the official backup fighter for UFC White House title fight

Arman Tsarukyan is someone who many would think would be on the ground in Washington, DC ready to weigh in if either headlining fighter were to drop out, but Tsarukyan is elsewhere in the country, preparing to face Tony Ferguson on the Real American Freestyle mats in the coming days.

It turns out that apparently one of the lightweight fighters already booked for UFC Freedom 250 is slotted in that backup role for the championship main event clash. This was expressed by Mauricio Ruffy during the UFC Freedom 250 media day, as Ruffy said [via Bloody Elbow],

“I am 100% dedicated to this and I will be ready to fight for a championship. As the talks that I’ve had with the UFC and the talks that my team has had have led us to believe from recent conversations, and I’m just gonna say to you guys, on Saturday, I’m gonna be making championship weight in case the UFC needs me and something happens, I’ll be making championship weight… I will be ready to fight for a title.”