Passed Over Twice, Arman Tsarukyan Answers With Elbows and a Climb Over the Cage

When the referee stopped it, Arman Tsarukyan ran across the Octagon, climbed over the fence, shook Dana White's hand and mimed buckling a belt around his waist. The message wasn't subtle.

He had just knocked out Mauricio Ruffy with four seconds left in the first round of the UFC 331 co-main event, a left elbow out of the clinch and a right elbow as Ruffy dropped. The official time was 4:56. It was his sixth straight win, and he's 24-3.

For my next fight, for the title fight, I need that finish and I knew that I'm going to finish him.

It didn't start well. Ruffy, who had 13 knockouts in 14 wins, caught him with a right hand that left a big bruise under his left eye, and Tsarukyan stood and traded with him anyway. Midway through the round he switched to wrestling and pressed Ruffy into the fence. Ruffy stuffed all but one takedown, but the scramble left his head open for the elbow.

Why he needed it

Tsarukyan pulled out of a title fight a day before it in January 2025, and it cost him. He was skipped when Islam Makhachev vacated the belt and again when an interim title went up during Ilia Topuria's time away, despite being ranked No. 1. White said then that he'd have to earn his way back no matter what the rankings said. Saturday made that argument a lot harder to keep making.