UFC-ийн хөнгөн жингийн шилдэг тулаанч Арман Царукян аварга цолны төлөөх тулаанд өөрийгөө бэлэн гэдгээ баталлаа.
Лос-Анжелес хотод болсон UFC 331 тэмцээний хамтарсан гол тулаанд Арман Царукян Маурисио Руффиг эхний раундад нокаутаар буулган авч, карьерынхаа хамгийн чухал ялалтуудын нэгийг байгууллаа. Энэхүү ялалт нь түүнийг хөнгөн жингийн аваргын бүсний төлөөх гол өрсөлдөгч болгож байгаа бөгөөд тулаан дууссаны дараа тэрээр аварга Жастин Гэтжиг өөртэй нь тулалдах ёстой гэдгийг онцолсон юм.
Царукян хөнгөн жинд зургаан тулаан дараалан ялалт байгуулаад байгаа бөгөөд өмнөх жилүүдэд аваргын бүсний төлөө тулалдах боломж олон удаа хойшилж байсан тул энэ удаагийн гүйцэтгэлээ маш чухал гэж үзэж байна. Тэрээр UFC-ийн удирдлагатай ярилцсаны үндсэн дээр өөрийн ур чадварыг харуулж чадсан гэдэгтээ итгэлтэй байгаа бөгөөд одоо аваргын төлөө тулалдах цаг нь болсон гэв.
Гэвч хөнгөн жингийн аварга Жастин Гэтжи өөртэй нь тулалдахаас зайлсхийж, нэрийг нь дурдахгүй байгааг Царукян шүүмжиллээ. Тэрээр Гэтжиг Илиа Топуриа зэрэг бусад тамирчдыг дуудах эсвэл өндөр санхүүгийн шаардлага тавьж тулаанаас зугтахыг оролдож байна гэж үзэж байна.
Хэрэв Гэтжи тулалдахаас татгалзаж, зодог тайлахаар шийдвэл Царукян үүнд харамсах зүйлгүй бөгөөд UFC-ийн зүгээс хэзээ тулалдахыг санал болгоно, тэр үед нь бэлэн байх болно гэдгээ илэрхийлэв. Царукян бэртэл гэмтэлгүй байгаа тул 12 дугаар сарын дунд эсвэл сүүлчээр болох томоохон тулаанд оролцоход бэлэн байгаагаа мэдэгдлээ.
Дэлгэрэнгүй эх сурвалжийг харах
Эх сурвалжийг нээх ↓
Arman Tsarukyan wins at UFC 331 on Saturday night. | Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)
Arman Tsarukyan has a message for Justin Gaethje: I’m next.
On Saturday night, Tsarukyan scored arguably the biggest win of his career, knocking out Mauricio Ruffy in the co-main event of UFC 331 in Los Angeles. Viewed by many as a title eliminator bout, lightweight champion Justin Gaethje sat cageside for the fight, and kicking off his post-fight press conference afterward, Tsarukyan had a simple message for the champ.
“He already knows his message; he’s fighting me next,” Tsarukyan told reporters.
Tsarukyan is currently on a six-fight win streak at lightweight and was supposed to challenge Islam Makhachev for the title last year, but a last-minute withdrawal from the event, plus other incidents, put Tsarukyan in the doghouse with the UFC. As such, Tsarukyan felt extra pressure to deliver on Saturday to ensure his title shot, and he believes he did just that.
“Every fight is pressure for me,” Tsarukyan said. “It’s not a joke because I want to be UFC champion. Every fight for me is so important. This fight is important too, especially finish and show the great performance. When I’m going to talk to UFC, the bosses are not going to say, ‘It was a boring decision, and you want to fight for the title.’ I knocked him out in the first round, and they can see the crowd, people, and my ability in the cage. …
“I’ve been waiting a long time,” Tsarukyan added later. “I need a title fight, and today I proved it again. This is the third time I’m fighting for the No. 1 contender, and third year. After this fight, hopefully I’m fighting for the title.”
Tsarukyan certainly believes he will be, saying he spoke with Dana White and the UFC after the win. But whether or not he’ll be fighting Gaethje is another question entirely, and one that Tsarukyan isn’t sure he knows the answer to because he believes Gaethje has no interest in fighting him.
“Justin Gaethje, he never tells my name,” Tsarukyan said. “He’s scared. He wanted Ruffy to knock me out. It means he’s trying to avoid me, and he’s going to try to call out Ilia Topuria or tell [the UFC], ‘I want $15 million for Arman Tsarukyan or I’m retired.’ He’s going to play around bullshit game.
“But UFC — either he’s going to fight me, or he’s going to give the title opportunity for the young guys. We have a lot of contenders right now.”
Tsarukyan added that if Gaethje does opt to retire instead of fighting him, he wouldn’t be upset by that; he simply wants his opportunity to become champion. And when it comes to that, he’s not fussy. Tsarukyan says he’ll be ready whenever the UFC wants.
“I have no injuries. So I need one-week vacation, and then I can start training again,” Tsarukyan said when asked about when he’d like to fight for the title. “Probably middle of December, end of December. If there is a big card at end of December or middle December, so I’ll be ready. Right now, I can’t [say] ‘I want to fight in two months, I want to fight in three months.’ Whatever they tell me, I’ll be there.”
