This past Saturday night on the main card of UFC 300, a potential lightweight title shot was on the line. Former champion Charles Oliveira (34-10) was looking to get back to a title shot while Arman Tsarukyan (22-3) was looking to secure his first crack at the belt.
This fight started out extremely exciting when an early grappling exchange saw Oliveira lock in an insanely deep guillotine choke. Personally, I thought the fight was over but Tsarukyan showed incredible toughness and fought out of it. While Oliveira secured the mount, Tsarukyan ended up reversing the position and spent the second half of the round on top.
Personally, I scored the first for Oliveira. In the second round, Tsarukyan was able to secure a takedown and really controlled the round from the top position. Oliveira locked in a deep triangle choke, but it was locked in with only about five seconds left in the round. That round was a clear one for Tsarukyan.
The third round got very interesting. Tsarukyan landed a takedown and controlled the majority of the round. However, with about a minute left, Oliveira reversed the position and ended up getting a deep d’arce choke. The final image of the fight had Oliveira with a choke locked in sticking his tongue out. That resulted in a razor close decision at UFC 300.
Because Tsarukyan never really threatened a finish I leaned a little towards Oliveira in the final round and gave him the fight 29-98, but could easily see it going for Tsarukyan. Counting my card, 30 media members scored the bout with nine going for Oliveira and 21 for Tsarukyan. That ended up being the split at UFC 300 as well with two judges giving the fight to Tsarukyan and one for Oliveira.
What’s next after UFC 300?
This is an easy one in terms of a what’s next type of article. Arman Tsarukyan absolutely deserves to be fighting for the title after Saturday night. His last two fights include a knockout over Beneil Dariush and now he defeated Charles Oliveira who dominated the lightweight division for years before being dethroned by Islam Makhachev.
According to Tsarukyan’s manager, the UFC approached Tsarukyan with an offer to turn around and fight Islam Makhachev in June. However, Tsarukyan and his team turned down the opportunity as they’d like more time to prepare for the lightweight champion. As a result, Dustin Poirier is getting the next lightweight title fight.
Should Makhachev win, the plan would be for him to defend his title again in October at the promotion’s annual Abu Dhabi PPV. Tsarukyan will be taking on the winner of Islam Makhachev – Dustin Poirier. The only way Tsarukyan doesn’t get a title fight is if Poirier wins and the UFC decides to give Makhachev an immediate rematch which could always happen.