Arman Tsarukyan, the UFC’s top-ranked lightweight contender, expressed confusion regarding a significant change to his scheduled bout. The fighter was originally slated to face Charles Oliveira in a five-round co-main event at UFC 331 in Los Angeles on September 19, but the promotion unexpectedly reassigned him to fight rising challenger Mauricio Ruffy instead.
According to Tsarukyan’s account, he learned of the switch while training at a mountain camp. The fighter accepted the new matchup rather than risk a prolonged layoff, noting his extended time away from competition. However, he questioned the official explanation provided by the UFC regarding why the Oliveira bout fell through. The promotion cited the death of UFC flyweight Allan Nascimento, a close friend and training partner of Oliveira’s, as the reason for the change.
Tsarukyan expressed skepticism about this justification, pointing out that Oliveira appeared to resume normal activities shortly after. The contender noted seeing Oliveira conducting social media live streams and returning to training within days. Tsarukyan suspects the fighter used the tragedy as a pretext to avoid their matchup, theorizing instead that the UFC is arranging a bout between Oliveira and featherweight Diego Lopes, potentially for Oliveira’s BMF title. While Tsarukyan acknowledged not receiving official confirmation of these plans, he believes Oliveira would prefer facing Lopes over competing with him.
Originally reported by Sports.yahoo →
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