Arman Tsarukyan Predicts First-Round Knockout of Charles Oliveira

Arman Tsarukyan is looking to put on an unforgettable showing against Charles Oliveira to cement his status as the No. 1 lightweight contender.

Tsarukyan (21-3) and Oliveria (34-9) are slated to throw down on the marquee UFC 300 card at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

While Oliveira is a feared submission specialist and Tsarukyan comes from a wrestling background, “Ahalkalakets” believes the fight doesn’t necessarily have to go to the ground.

“If you know wrestling and jiu-jitsu, how to defend, it’s a completely different game,” Tsarukyan told Daniel Cormier. “If we’re going to do jiu-jitsu without ground and pound, of course, he can maybe get any submissions. But when you punch someone, he can’t think about like, ‘Oh, I got to get his arm,’ or whatever. He’s got to defend himself; you know? That’s why it’s so difficult. Especially with high-level fighters right now.

“First two rounds, it’s almost impossible to choke high-level fighters. I believe that I can do that in [the] first round and I want to show everybody I’m the best here. My goal is to go there and knock him out in the first round to show everybody I deserve that title fight.”

The Tsarukyan vs. Oliveira booking came shortly after Islam Makhachev dismissed immediate rematches against both in favor of a clash against Justin Gaethje. While the UFC 300 booking has been widely accepted as a title eliminator, Makhachev on Tuesday said that he will first fight Gaethje in June and then the winner of the UFC 300 clash in November.

Makhachev’s plans do not sit well with Tsarukyan, who believes the champ should wait for the result of UFC 300 before booking a fight in the summer.

“I think he should wait [for] us, because we are going to be contender No. 1,” Tsarukyan said. “Hopefully they’re not going to book that fight for the summer and wait [for] us. After, when I win, I’m going to fight with Islam, and then we can talk about Gaethje. I feel like we are next and Gaethje has to wait [for] us. Gathje has to wait [until] October. OK, we’re going to fight for the title in the summer.”