Tsarukyan Wants Five Lightweight Title Defenses to Top Makhachev

Arman Tsarukyan has done the math on beating Islam Makhachev, and it doesn't involve another fight between them. The #2-ranked lightweight, sitting at 23-3 with six submissions, says he wants at least five title defenses of his own to break the record Makhachev set — four straight — before he ever entertains chasing his old rival again. Speaking on the Deep Waters show, Tsarukyan laid out the endgame plainly: hit five defenses, then either retire or bulk up for a run at 170.

That's ambitious for a man who hasn't won the belt yet. Makhachev vacated lightweight to become welterweight champion, leaving the 155-pound crown open. Tsarukyan's first job is Mauricio Ruffy in the UFC 331 co-main event on Sept. 19 — a fight he needs to win to stay in the title conversation he's spent years fighting his way back into.

The History With Makhachev

These two go back to Tsarukyan's UFC debut in 2019, when a 22-year-old Tsarukyan took Makhachev on short notice in Russia and lost a hard, close decision. Makhachev became champion three years later. Tsarukyan clawed his way to a rematch at UFC 311 in January 2025, then watched it fall apart when a back injury forced him out. His replacement, Renato Moicano, got dismantled — and Makhachev hit that fourth defense, a number no lightweight had ever reached.

In the vacuum, Ilia Topuria knocked out Charles Oliveira to grab the vacant belt, then lost it in stunning fashion to Justin Gaethje at UFC White House in June. So the picture at the top is wide open, and Tsarukyan knows exactly who he wants: Gaethje first, Topuria after. He said the matchmakers have at least given him a verbal nod for the Gaethje fight, though he admits nothing's guaranteed even with a win over Ruffy.

Reading the Rest of the Division

Tsarukyan didn't hold back on how he'd book things. He'd match himself with Gaethje and pit Topuria against Paddy Pimblett — a fight he says makes sense but won't get made, because the promotion doesn't want either man to lose. His read is that Pimblett gets steered toward a friendlier payday, and he floated Max Holloway as that opponent, arguing Holloway's takedown defense has eroded to the point that even Pimblett's wrestling could exploit it.

He respects Topuria enough to hedge his prediction. Tsarukyan figures the loss to Gaethje either sharpens Topuria or breaks him, and reckons a motivated, locked-in version is an incredible fighter worth taking seriously. For now, all of it hangs on Ruffy. Beat him, then beat Gaethje, and Tsarukyan finally reaches the summit he's chased since he was 22 — with a record in mind that only one man has ever set.