Arman Tsarukyan Says He’d Beat Any Ranked Lightweight: “They Don’t Want to Ruin His Career”
Being the rightful number one UFC lightweight contender, Arman Tsarukyan continues with his bold claims. Recently, ‘Ahalkalakets’ appeared in an interview with Complex News and was informed that, after being denied a title shot, he will most likely be matched up against a ranked opponent like Benoit Saint-Denis next.
The Armenian fighter quickly fired back when the possibility of a future bout against Saint-Denis was mentioned. Tsarukyan quickly pointed out that Saint-Denis will fight Dan Hooker later this month at UFC 325, something the interviewer seemingly wasn’t aware of.
The 29-year-old then highlighted that the Frenchman has lost to Dustin Poirier and Renato Moicano. Hence, Tsarukyan thinks he can make easy work of Saint-Denis if they ever lock horns. Tsarukyan also opined that Saint-Denis will never be among the top five lightweights in the UFC, and the promotion will never book him against Arman Tsarukyan, as the ‘Ahalkalakets’ will “ruin his career.” He said:
“Benoit has a fight coming up. They know that I am gonna beat everybody. How does that make sense?… They don’t want to give me Saint Denis because they don’t want to ruin his career. They gave him Poirier, and Poirier beat his a*s… Benoit-Saint Denis lost even to Moicano. What are you talking about? He’s never going to be in the top 5.”
Check out Arman Tsarukyan’s comments below:
Benoit Saint-Denis, who is currently ranked No. 8 on the lightweight chart, suffered back-to-back losses to Dustin Poirier and Renato Moicano in 2024, as Tsarukyan noted above. However, in 2025, ‘God of War’ bounced back and won three bouts in a row. Last year, he submitted Kyle Prepolec and Mauricio Ruffy and then knocked out Beneil Dariush at UFC 322.
Arman Tsarukyan has no idea what he has to do to get a title shot
After submitting Dan Hooker at UFC Qatar last year, Arman Tsarukyan was confident that he would get a title shot in 2026. However, his wish was denied.
Tsarukyan pulling out of his UFC 311 title fight has been the major reason why he has not been given another title shot. Other than that, headbutting Dan Hooker and punching a fan at UFC 300 are the other reasons, according to UFC CEO Dana White, for which ‘Ahalkalakets’ has not gotten a second chance.
White claims Tsarukyan knows what he has to do to get another title shot. However, the 29-year-old says he has no clue. During the same Complex interview, he said:
“I have no idea what I have to do. I wish I could talk to him and figure out what I’ve got to do. We never even talked about that. Dana said me vs. Hooker is a No. 1 contender fight, and then I heard one week ago that because of the headbutt, I didn’t get the title fight, but I didn’t hear from them that the [headbutt] is the reason.”
Check out Arman Tsarukyan’s comments below:
