Having interrupted Damir Ismagulov’s impressive streak of nineteen victories, Arman Tsarukyan wants to see a representative of the top five in the UFC lightweight division as his next opponent.
“I dominated every round,” the Russian said in an interview after the fight. “I wanted to finish him, I tried to strangle him, but he is a very tough opponent. I always try to finish my opponents and if I had five rounds, I’m sure I would finish the fight early, but I didn’t have enough time. He began to tire in the third round, I felt it, but I could not hold the reception. However, I think I did a very good job. For me it was a big fight and a big name. Yes, he is not in the top 5, but he is cooler than the top five fighters.
“My goal is to beat everyone the UFC gives me, no matter the name, but I would like Charles Oliveira or Benil Dariush to be my next opponent. I deserve an opponent with a big name, they don’t have fights and I’m ready to compete with them. I’m not injured today, I’m feeling great, I’m young, I’m cutting weight with no problems, and if the UFC offers me a big fight, I’ll be ready in two months. But if they offer me someone from the top 15, I won’t fight. I’ll take a break, go back to the ATT gym and work on my skills. I trained for this fight in Thailand because I didn’t have a visa, but now I can go back to my trainers.”
The fight of the Russian lightweights, which became the second most important event of the UFC Fight Night 216 tournament in Las Vegas, went all the way and ended with the victory of Arman Tsarukyan by unanimous decision with a score of 30-27 three times.
Source: https://fighttime.ru/news/item/30299-arman-tsarukyan-nazval-veroyatnykh-sopernikov.html?rand=19907
