Rashad Evans and Jorge Masvidal both believe Arman Tsarukyan is the obvious choice to face Justin Gaethje in his first title defence, following his win over Ilia Topuria.
Justin Gaethje became the lightweight champion earlier this month after he forced a stoppage win over the previously undefeated Ilia Topuria in the fourth round.
After the third round, Topuria’s corner decided not to let him continue. He returned to his stool bloodied and clearly struggling, prompting their decision to stop the fight.
This win for Gaethje didn’t just hand Topuria his first professional loss – it also unified the UFC’s lightweight championship, as Gaethje was holding the interim title before stepping into that bout.
Rashad Evans and Jorge Masvidal on why they think Arman Tsarukyan should be next for Justin Gaethje
Justin Gaethje had come up short in his two previous attempts at the lightweight belt before finally getting past Ilia Topuria at UFC Freedom 250.
Jorge Masvidal, now retired, was alongside Rashad Evans when the question came up about who should get the first shot at Gaethje’s title defence.
Evans went straight past a possible rematch with Topuria and instead pointed to Arman Tsarukyan as the right choice.
Speaking on UFC on Paramount+, he said: “Man, I think he’s got to fight Arman Tsarukyan. I mean, Arman is, you know, he’s become quite the streamer, the entertainer. He’s got a huge following now.”
“He’s kind of become bigger now than he’s ever been in fighting, just because of what he’s doing with Real American Freestyle and just being out on the streaming network.”
“And, you know, he’s looking good. He’s getting used to competing, competing on the biggest stages and still just, you know, he’s still in the conversation.”
“And I feel like before there would have been an, ‘Alright, we got to get Arman, you know, the fans get behind him again.’”
“But the fans are already with him. He has a whole fan base that he’s been building up because he’s been streaming. So, it’s a high-value fighter with another high-value fighter. So, I think it’d be fireworks, man.”
Jorge Masvidal backs Arman Tsarukyan vs Justin Gaethje, but he points to the elephant in the room
Masvidal was in full agreement with Evans over his pick for Gaethje, but the 41-year-old pointed to the tension between Arman Tsarukyan and Dana White.
“Does Dana let him [Tsarukyan] out [of] the gulag, though?” he asked Evans.
“Because Dana was the one [who] put him in there. Only Dana could take him out. Because I’m with you. If we’re going off skill and name ID [alone], Arman all day, but is Dana going to do that?”
“And if Dana doesn’t do that, then who would be next if it’s not Arman? Is it the winner of Paddy and ‘BSD’ [Benoit Saint-Denis], maybe?”
Dana White has publicly criticised Tsarukyan and hinted back in March that there are a “lot of different reasons” for why he is disappointed with the UFC star now.
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