Arman Tsarukyan urged not to take UFC featherweight division lightly: “It ain’t gonna be a cake walk”

If Arman Tsarukyan thinks he can blow past the 145-pound division, one former UFC champion believes he’ll be in for a rude awakening.

Tsarukyan has teased moving down in weight to challenge featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski. “Ahalkalakets” recently told IbraTV that while his goal to become a lightweight titleholder remains, he’d find it difficult to turn down an opportunity to face “The Great.”

If Tsarukyan does venture off into the 145-pound weight class, Aljamain Sterling doesn’t believe he’d be gifted a UFC title shot right away. Speaking to MMAJunkie.com, Sterling said Tsarukyan might have a tougher time at featherweight than he is anticipating.

“I wouldn’t be annoyed at all (if Tsarukyan dropped to featherweight). I don’t think he necessarily will cut the line. He’ll have to fight the next top guy,” Sterling said. “If he wants to come down to the division, come down, because those featherweights, we want all the smoke. You’ve got me, you’ve Jean Silva, you’ve got Youseff (Zalal), you’ve got Yair (Rodriguez), you’ve got a lot of talented guys. You’ve got the Kevin Vallejos kid, who’s surging hot right now. You’ve got that young kid prospect, Lerryan Douglas. There’s a lot of good guys in this division, so it ain’t gonna be a cake walk, I can tell you that.”

Sterling is scheduled for a crucial featherweight bout on Saturday. He will be taking on Youssef Zalal in the UFC Vegas 116 main event. The “Funk Master” has expressed confidence in being able to earn a title shot against Volkanovski with an impressive performance.

Even if Sterling handles business this weekend, most would have Movsar Evloev ahead of him on the pecking order given the result of their late 2024 bout and Evloev’s recent win over Lerone Murphy.

If Arman Tsarukyan moves down to featherweight, do you think he’d become a UFC champion in the weight class? Comment below.