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Brett Okamoto
The UFC might have determined two No. 1 contenders on Saturday, as lightweight Arman Tsarukyan and welterweight Ian Machado Garry each turned in breakout performances.
Tsarukyan (23-3) submitted Dan Hooker (24-13) in the second round of the main event of UFC Fight Night inside ABHA Arena in Doha, Qatar. And in the co-main event, Machado Garry (17-1) cruised to a three-round decision over former champion Belal Muhammad (24-5).
Tsarukyan has now won five fights in a row and has his sights on defending 155-pound champion Ilia Topuria, saying he would face him as quickly as January if the UFC sends him a contract.
“We have to face each other; there is only one No. 1 contender and it’s Arman Tsarukyan,” Tsarukyan said of Topuria. “Don’t make an easy fight. I’m ready, end of January. Send me the contract, and I’ll be there.”
Topuria has not fought since he won the vacant belt by knocking out Charles Oliveira in June. His other most likely options as a first title defense include Justin Gaethje and Paddy Pimblett.
Machado Garry, of Ireland, has now won 10 of his last 11 fights and also used his post-fight interview to call for a title fight. Machado Garry could jump to the front of a long line of potential options for newly-crowned champion Islam Makhachev, who took the belt from Jack Della Maddalena last weekend at UFC 322 in New York.
“I just beat the No. 1 ranked contender,” Machado Garry said. “Nobody else is ranked above him. Islam, Belal couldn’t take me down, so you try to take me down. I’m the best in the world. You have a duty to defend against the best in the world.”
The individual performances in the main and co-main events were both striking, although in very different ways. Tsarukyan took Hooker down in the first and second rounds, and easily moved into an arm-triangle choke at the 3:44 mark. It was a very lopsided affair that saw Tsarukyan establish control for more than six minutes of a nine-minute contest.
Machado Garry’s matchup, meanwhile, played out entirely on the feet. Muhammad went 0-for-7 on takedown attempts and was visibly out-classed on the feet. Machado Garry peppered him with jabs and right hands to the head, as well as a nasty front kick to the body and lead leg. All three judges scored the three-round bout for Machado Garry, via scores of 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28.
There are a lot of moving parts at both 155 and 170 pounds. A former featherweight champion, Topuria has actually expressed an interest in moving up again in order to face Makhachev at welterweight.
Makhachev stated last weekend he was most interested in a title defense against former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman, but that was made before Machado Garry’s impressive performance on Saturday.