Moicano backs Tsarukyan as next lightweight champion but urges Gaethje to take Volkanovski fight

Renato Moicano has declared Arman Tsarukyan the inevitable next UFC lightweight champion — while simultaneously urging current titleholder Justin Gaethje to sidestep him in favour of a blockbuster clash with Alexander Volkanovski. Moicano made the comments ahead of his main-event appearance at UFC Vegas 123 on Saturday, where he faces surging contender Tom Nolan at the Meta APEX.

Moicano knows the 155-pound landscape intimately. He stepped in on one day’s notice to challenge Islam Makhachev for the title at UFC 311 in January 2025 after Tsarukyan withdrew with a back injury. Since that defeat, Moicano has reeled off three straight victories, including a win over former champion Charles Oliveira and back-to-back stoppages of Dan Hooker and Mauricio Ruffy — the latter coming a month before UFC Vegas 123 at UFC 331.

On Tsarukyan, Moicano was unequivocal. The Armenian contender’s knockout of Ruffy — widely regarded as a Knockout of the Year contender — removed any remaining doubt about his readiness for gold, in Moicano’s view.

“I think he will have a very hard night,” Moicano said of a potential Gaethje vs. Tsarukyan matchup. “Arman is right now… after what he did to Ruffy, that was crazy. I think Ruffy is a better striker than Gaethje. Arman is very well-rounded. Good striker, good grappler, good wrestler, very high fighting I.Q. So I think Arman is the next champion.”

Gaethje claimed the undisputed lightweight title with a stunning upset over Ilia Topuria at UFC White House in June. Yet Moicano believes the champion’s smartest move would be to pursue Volkanovski before any date with Tsarukyan materialises.

Volkanovski reignited his own title ambitions with a second-round knockout of Movsar Evloev in the UFC 333 main event, and has since publicly floated a fight with Gaethje as a potential double-retirement bout, with both men vacating their respective titles afterwards.

Moicano endorsed the concept on both sporting and commercial grounds.

“UFC is not about being only the best. It’s not,” he said. “UFC is about selling history behind the fight. A narrative. Volkanovski, the way he beat Evloev, the way he beat Diego Lopes — and he tried to get this title against Islam the first time and he did very well. Imagine now, a little bit older, but he still has what it takes to be a champion, and against a guy that is way more favourable than Islam Makhachev. If you look at that, it’s better for Gaethje to fight Volkanovski than fight Arman. So it makes sense for Volk, it makes sense for Gaethje.”

Before any of those scenarios play out, Moicano must first get past Nolan on Saturday night — a fighter whose recent form has made him one of the division’s most talked-about rising names.