Arman Tsarukyan wants Ilia Topuria next after finishing Dan Hooker with arm-triangle choke in UFC Qatar main event
Arman Tsarukyan made quite a statement that he should be next for lightweight champion Ilia Topuria after mauling Dan Hooker in the UFC Qatar main event.
Despite a lengthy layoff that was exacerbated by an injury that cost him a title shot in January, Tsarukyan didn’t skip a beat on Saturday as he was dominant from start to finish. On the feet, Tsarukyan actually landed some very solid strikes including a knee that definitely rattled Hooker in an early exchange.
But once the fight hit the floor, Tsarukyan showed how this fight was a mismatch as he battered Hooker with some truly gruesome punches and elbows before latching onto an arm triangle choke to get the tap. The end came at 3:34 in the second round as Tsarukyan extends his win streak to five in a row overall.
“Feeling great. Thank Dan because of him, I fought this year,” Tsarukyan said afterwards. “Only guy who wanted to fight me. Ilia, if you’re here, come on. There is just one contender No. 1. It’s Arman Tsarukyan. Everybody knows I’ve got to fight for the title. I’m ready. End of January, send me contract, I’ll be there.”
“Nobody can stop me in the cage. I’m the best in the world and I’m going to be a champion. I work so hard, so smart, I dedicate all my life for this sport and it pays off this day.”
A takedown attempt from Tsarukyan in the opening round was thwarted but on Hooker’s escape, he connected with a huge knee up the middle. Hooker was wobbled from the knee and Tsarukyan followed it up with a hard combination of punches that landed clean.
Hooker recovered enough to fire back and worked his way to the clinch where he actually grabbed from a guillotine choke. Tsarukyan resisted before scrambling to escape and he ended up on top of Hooker where he began dropping elbows and setting up potential submissions.
A solid start in round two from Hooker once again led to an ill-fated guillotine choke attempt that ended with Tsarukyan on top of him. From there, Tsarukyan was unloading with some vicious ground and pound trying to put Hooker away.
The assault continued with Tsarukyan just doing maximum damage and Hooker holding onto survive. After moving into mount, Tsarukyan just kept pounding away until he saw an opening to grab the arm-triangle choke.
With a vice-like grip on the submission, Tsarukyan just tightened his hold and Hooker eventually faded before tapping out to end the fight. Tsarukyan has looked unstoppable lately and he adds another ranked fighter to his resume after dispatching Hooker inside two rounds.
All signs seemed to point towards Topuria making his first title defense against Paddy Pimblett in early 2026 but if that doesn’t come together, Tsarukyan certainly made a compelling case that he actually deserves the next title shot.
Whether that comes early next year or he has to wait for a little while, Tsarukyan has definitely done his part and he looks like the best possible foil to Topuria’s title reign.
