Arman Tsarukyan has talked his way back into Dana White’s good books, and he did it with an elbow.
Tsarukyan knocked out Mauricio Ruffy in the first round of Saturday’s UFC 331 co-main event in Los Angeles. White had spent most of two years unhappy with him, dating back to his January 2025 weigh-in-day withdrawal from a title fight with Islam Makhachev.
I’ve been vocal that I wasn’t crazy about some of the stuff that he’s done, but when you —- up, then you come back and you do everything the right way, he couldn’t have had a better comeback after the things that he had done that I wasn’t thrilled about.
White said the fight was not going Tsarukyan’s way at first.
At the end of that round I was like, ‘Oh —-, man, he’s in for a rough night.’ And then boom, the elbow. Incredible.
Tsarukyan climbed the cage after the finish and told White and UFC executive Hunter Campbell he wanted lightweight champion Justin Gaethje next.
White would not commit, but he made his read on the standings clear.
Listen, Arman, you look like an idiot sitting up here saying that Arman has done anything wrong since the —- that he did wrong. I mean, he’s completely flipped everything, turned it around, and he could not be in a better position than he’s in right now.
Gaethje was in the building.
I don’t know (what’s next). We’ll see. I mean, that’s up to, we don’t know what Gaethje’s thinking yet. And he was here tonight, so he saw the fight and we’ll see where his head’s at.
Tsarukyan is 24-3, with 11 wins in 13 UFC fights.
