Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.
Dana White has issued an update on Arman Tsarukyan’s title shot against Islam Makhachev – and it’s not good news for the No 1 contender.
Tsarukyan suffered a back injury one day before UFC 311, scuppering his long-awaited rematch with Makhachev, who holds the lightweight title. Renato Moicano was drafted in for Tsarukyan, ultimately suffering a first-round submission loss to Makhachev.
Tsarukyan would have hoped that his rematch with Makhachev – who outpointed the Armenian-Russian in 2019 – would simply be rescheduled for later this year, but that looks unlikely.
UFC president White was asked about the match-up after UFC 311 on Saturday (18 January), and said: “[Tsarukyan] is not getting a title shot. That means he’s going to have to fight his way back to the title.
“He’s going back to the drawing board. I don’t want anybody to ever fight hurt ever, we’ve been in these positions before, [but]…
“Went down there with the doctor, went down there with Heather [Linden] from the [UFC Performance Institute] … and you miss opportunities sometimes, and he did. So, we’ll see how this plays out for him next year. I have no idea [if he could have fought]. I don’t know that, only he knows that.”
Surprisingly, Tsarukyan agreed with White’s suggestion that he must prove himself worthy of a title shot again.
“I agree with Dana White,” Tsarukyan, 28, tweeted. “Once my back heals, I’ll be ready to prove I’m the true No 1 contender by taking on anyone they put in front of me! [Charles Oliveira] in a five rounder makes [the] most sense.”
In Tsarukyan’s most-recent fight, he won a narrow decision against former champion Oliveira in April. That result extended Tsarukyan’s win streak to four in a row, while Oliveira bounced back in November by outpointing Michael Chandler.
Oliveira lost a vacant-title fight with Makhachev in October 2022, suffering a submission defeat by the Russian. A rematch was due to take place in October 2023, but the Brazilian suffered a cut that ruled him out of the bout.
As such, Makhachev vs Oliveira 2 has long been on the cards. Some fans feel the UFC should book that fight next, or Tsarukuyan vs Oliveira 2 in a No 1 contender’s bout.
