“He has to take this fight,” Tsarukyan said on another edition of The MMA Hour program. “Who else is he going to fight? Or is he going to wait a year for a title shot? We could fight him for the BMF title, why not? He’ll earn it and I’ll earn it. He’s a confident guy, so he should take this fight, earn well, and give me the BMF title”
Last weekend at UFC on ESPN 52 in Austin, Arman Tsarukyan knocked out American Benil Dariush, ranked fourth in the UFC lightweight rankings, as early as the 64th second of the fight. After that, the Russian challenged his compatriot Islam Makhachev, promising to knock out the reigning UFC lightweight champion and the organization’s best fighter in the first round, regardless of weight class.
At the same time, UFC head Dana White said that he sees the sense in a fight between Makhachev and Tsarukyan, suggesting that the fight could take place next year in Abu Dhabi.
As for Justin Gaethje, he won the BMF title in July of this year by knocking out Dustin Porier in a contender’s bout.