Arman Tsarukyan Says He Will Serve as Backup Fighter for UFC 317 Headliner

Arman Tsarukyan will get his wish to serve as the backup fighter for the UFC 317 main event.

The lightweight contender revealed in the comments of a social media post that he will be the alternate for the lightweight title clash between Ilia Topuria and Charles Oliveira on June 28 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Tsarukyan’s role was later confirmed by MMAFighting.com.

Tsarukyan will presumably be on hand during fight week to make weight and fill in should anything go awry with either Topuria or Oliveira, who are vying for the vacant 155-pound championship after Islam Makhachev vacated the strap to move up to welterweight.

The 28-year-old Russian was slated to challenge Makhachev for lightweight gold at UFC 311, but a back injury forced him to withdraw from the event on short notice. That prompted Dana White to declare that Tsarukyan was no longer the division’s No. 1 contender, as evidenced by the booking at UFC 317.

After besting ex-Bellator champ Patricky Freire in a grappling match, Tsarukyan offered his services as the backup fighter for both UFC 317 and UFC 318, which is headlined by a 155-pound duel between Dustin Poirier and Max Holloway.

Tsarukyan has not fought in the Octagon since April 2024, when he defeated Oliveira in what was billed as a lightweight title eliminator at UFC 300.

“I need to take chances now. I got injured and this injury got misinterpreted,” Tsarukyan said following the aforementioned grappling match. “The doctor didn’t let everybody know what really happened, so some people still think I ducked that fight. Now I just need to get back on track, so I’m going to do whatever the UFC tells me to do.”