Arman Tsarukyan picked a good seat for El Clasico, right next to the greatest lightweight of all time.
“Arman Tsarukyan linked up with Khabib Nurmagomedov at El Clasico in Barcelona today 🤝,” Championship Rounds wrote on X on Sunday, alongside footage of the pair at the Real Madrid vs. Barcelona match. Dovy, another MMA account, posted the same meetup minutes later, plus a separate clip of Tsarukyan with Tyler, The Creator. Busy day at the stadium.
The optics are hard to ignore. Tsarukyan is the No. 2 lightweight in the UFC at 24-3, fighting out of American Top Team. He’s also No. 13 on the men’s pound-for-pound list. Nurmagomedov retired 29-0 and held the 155-pound title from April 2018 to March 2021, a 1,134-day run that’s still the longest in division history. He went into the UFC Hall of Fame on June 30, 2022, and stepped away from coaching and cornering in January 2023.
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There’s history between Tsarukyan and Khabib’s camp. Tsarukyan made his UFC debut against Islam Makhachev on April 20, 2019, at UFC Fight Night 149 and lost a unanimous decision. That fight picked up Fight of the Night, and some outlets called it one of Makhachev’s tougher early tests.
The Barcelona trip capped a loud weekend for Tsarukyan. He beat Dillon Danis 10-0 at RAF 14 in a freestyle wrestling match, then stepped on Danis after the win, according to clips posted by Championship Rounds and Spinnin Backfist. Happy Punch had already posted footage of Danis struggling through his weight cut for the match, so he was in rough shape before anyone touched him.
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Tsarukyan last fought in MMA on Sept. 19. There’s no announced next fight in the sources. Championship Rounds floated a fan wish list on Saturday. It had Alexander Volkanovski moving up to face Justin Gaethje in a retirement fight, followed by Ilia Topuria vs. Tsarukyan for the undisputed lightweight title. That second fight is a hypothetical from a fan account, with nothing booked.
Volkanovski, for his part, sounded serious about Gaethje. “That’s something I’d retire for. If they want to give me that opportunity, win or lose I’d retire,” he said in the clip Championship Rounds shared.
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Nobody at El Clasico said anything on the record about lightweight title plans. Still, the No. 2 contender spent a Sunday talking with the guy who ran the division for three years.
