The tension between Charles Oliveira and Arman Tsarukyan is increasing ahead of their huge number-one contender fight at UFC 300 this coming Saturday.
Both lightweights are looking to separate themselves from the following pack, hoping to earn the next title shot against Islam Makhachev.
The Russian champion has made his desire to fight in June known, but the blockbuster UFC 300 event could end up changing the promotion’s plans, as two important 155lb bouts go down.
Charles Oliveira bounced back from his UFC 280 title loss to Makhachev with a first-round knockout over Beneil Dariush at UFC 289.
Justin Gaethje defends his ‘BMF’ title against Max Holloway on the card, but in the lead-up to his fight, he has admitted that the winner of Oliveira versus Tsarukyan should be next to fight for the title.
Arman Tsarukyan calls Oliveira ‘one-dimensional’ and predicts a first-round KO
‘Do Bronx’ was scheduled to rematch Islam Makhachev for the strap in October last year, but after sustaining a bad cut in training, he had to withdraw from that fight.
Instead of waiting for Makhachev to return following his title defense against Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 294, the Brazilian accepted a number one contender fight against Arman Tsarukyan.
The 27-year-old Armenian scored a round-one knockout over Beneil Dariush in his last fight, pushing him up to rank four in the stacked 155lb division.
At the beginning of fight week, Tsarukyan appeared on The MMA Hour, where he predicted a first-round finish over the former champion. Before that, the Armenian claimed Oliveira is ‘only good at one thing’, and that is taking his opponents back.
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“My prediction is a finish in the first round TKO.” Tsarukyan said on The MMA Hour.
Charles Oliveira scoffs at Tsarukyan’s comments and prediction
Talking to ESPN MMA just a few days out from the high-stakes fight, the 34-year-old labeled Tsarukyan as ‘arrogant’ while laughing off his pre-fight comments.
“It’s arrogance but I think each and every one of us plays the game in a different way. He’s going to say the things he’s going to say.
“I think each of these guys try to hit me in a different way and try to get me in any way. For him to say I’m only good at one thing, I’ve been here for 14 years so all I can do is laugh. It actually motivates me, if you’ve got a strong mind like I have right now, that only motives you, if you’ve got a weak mind, that’s going to get you.”
‘Do Bronx’ Oliveira has the chance to become the first fighter in UFC history to reach 20 post-fight bonuses, and he currently holds a bonus rate of 59%. The only current active fighters with a higher bonus rate are Justin Gaethje and Conor McGregor.
If Oliveira can make quick work of ‘Ahalkalakets’ at UFC 300, he may find himself being offered a quick turnaround to fight Islam Makhachev at UFC 302, on June 1st.