Arman Tsarukyan is staying busy as a competitive martial artist and emphatically stopped a former UFC titleholder earlier today. This took place under the Absolute Championship of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu banner. Tsarukyan finished Benson Henderson in a submission grappling contest.
That clash transpired at ACBJJ 18 in Moscow, Russia, when the number two-ranked lightweight contender finished the former WEC champ at 155 pounds with an arm triangle choke in the early goings of the matchup. The 28-year-old victor is 13 years Henderson’s junior, in what many saw as a clash of past and present lightweight standouts in MMA.
Henderson’s submission grappling pedigree, especially in the realm of defensive responsibility, is well-renowned. Despite the referenced age difference between the two, it is still an impressive performance. This in the context of how evasive Henderson has been throughout his career in terms of not succumbing to submissions throughout his competitive efforts.
Also of note, ex-UFC combatant Mairbek Taisumov would take to the mat to set up a future matchup with Tsarukyan. Taisumov faced off with the potential next challenger for the UFC lightweight title. That would seem to be the next ACBJJ superfight that they’re targeting. This marks a busy run on the submission grappling circuit for Tsarukyan lately, as he is now on a three-match winning streak in submission grappling.
Arman Tsarukyan called out by UFC Paris victor
Arman Tsarukyan is the number two-ranked 155-pound competitor in the UFC [and as mentioned, the potential next lightweight title challenger]. This is to say that he is, understandably, someone who would get frequently called out. This transpired at UFC Paris recently, as the victorious Benoit Saint Denis put Tsarukyan in his crosshairs.
Saint Denis indicated his interest in fighting the Armenian contender. This came after finishing the highly touted Mauricio Ruffy a couple of weeks back. On September 6th, Ruffy entered the cage with a ton of hype. But Benoit Saint Denis managed to take a certain amount of juice from The Fighting Nerds product.
Saint Denis submitted Ruffy inside the distance earlier this month in France. BSD then put the lightweight elite on blast after his recent co-main event win, as Saint Denis said [via MMA Junkie],
“Now I’m back at it, and I cannot wait to showcase that by facing a guy like Arman, [Dan] Hooker, [Mateusz] Gamrot – I mean, anybody inside the top 10. I know they wanted to make Arman vs. Gamrot. They wanted to make me vs. Gamrot. It didn’t work.”
“Maybe me vs. Arman, because obviously Gamrot vs. Arman was already made. I don’t know what will be the UFC‘s plans, but I refuse nobody. I’m back at the version of myself which is fight as much as possible and win as much as possible, no matter the opponent.”