Tsarukyan knocks out Ruffy with late elbows to demand UFC lightweight title shot

Arman Tsarukyan bulldozed his way to the top of the UFC lightweight queue, knocking out Mauricio Ruffy with back-to-back elbows in the dying seconds of the opening round at UFC 331’s co-main event at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on September 20. The finish, clinical and decisive, leaves Tsarukyan with the strongest possible argument for a title shot.

The bout was not without its anxious moments for Tsarukyan. Ruffy, renowned for his striking, landed clean shots early and left “The Batman” with visible swelling around one eye. Yet Tsarukyan kept his composure, mixing wrestling threats with his own striking to gradually take control before the explosive finish arrived.

“I feel great,” Tsarukyan said in his post-fight interview. “I was looking for a finish and even the first round was kind of rough, but I knew, like, I’m going to finish him. First punches, it’s always hard to defend because both of us, we’re fresh. But Ruffy is one of the best strikers, you know, we shouldn’t forget about that.”

Tsarukyan was keen to frame the victory as proof of his all-round capabilities rather than a one-dimensional performance. The Armenian-born fighter has long been considered a wrestling-heavy threat, but the finish — elbows in a scramble rather than a takedown grind — underlined the breadth of his game.

“I’m such a well-rounded fighter,” he added. “I know, like, with wrestling, only wrestling, you cannot win the fights. You’ve got to mix it up. I made the best statement that I could do today.”

The win cements Tsarukyan’s status as the No. 1 contender at 155 pounds and turns up the pressure on the UFC to book him a lightweight title fight. Whether the promotion acts on that case quickly remains to be seen, but after a first-round knockout in a co-main event slot, Tsarukyan has done everything asked of him.