Las Vegas, NV — Arman Tsarukyan had to overcome some adversity at UFC Vegas 75 on Saturday, but the lightweight nevertheless finished Joaquim Silva in the third round for his seventh win in eight fights.
Tsarukyan (20-3), 26, is a rising star in the lightweight division — one who has struggled to get opponents to sign on to face him. Despite that, the Armenian knows what he wants next: Beneil Dariush or Michael Chandler.
“Yeah, if Dariush can fight in Abu Dhabi in October, I want to fight with him. If not, you know guys, you know me, I want to fight with everybody,” Tsarukyan told media outlets including Cageside Press following UFC Vegas 75. “But everybody from like top 5. Whoever. Chandler, Dariush, whoever, but I think a fight with Dariush makes sense.”
The fight he prefers, however, is with Michael Chandler — which Tsarukyan believes to be possible, because he doesn’t expect the TUF 31 coach to fight rival Conor McGregor.
“If you ask me, for sure I want to fight with Michael Chandler, because it looks like his fight with Conor McGregor is over, and he’s got to fight with someone,” Tsarukyan opined. “And I’m here, you know. I have a good win streak. Let’s do it, let’s do this fight, because I’m the youngest guy in the top 15, and he’s the older one.”
“I think for fans, it’s good, like new generation fighting with old generation.”
So does Tsarukyan know someone the rest of us don’t? While McGregor has encountered yet another scandal in recent days, there doesn’t appear to be anything keeping him from fighting at the moment. For Tsarukayn, it comes down to McGregor’s lifestyle.
“Because I saw what McGregor’s doing. He’s relaxing on his yacht, drinking, goes to the beach, smokes weed. We train like crazy guys, I live in the gym, train three, two times a day. He doesn’t. I think he’s not going to fight.”
Watch the full UFC Vegas 75 post-fight press conference appearance by Arman Tsarukyan above.
