Arman Tsarukyan continues to be everywhere, but in a lightweight title fight and as his PR blitz continues, he’s appearing on an endless stream of podcasts and influencers. During one of his live broadcasts, “Ahalkalakes” hinted that he was considering moving down to featherweight if it meant fighting for a title sooner.
“I didn’t get Gaethje, I didn’t get anyone,” Tsarukyan said on the Ariel Helwani show. “I’m going to try to get the title at 145. Yeah, what can I do. I talked to the coach and we did the math and stuff so I can physically get to 145. He said it’s not going to be easy, but we can make it happen.”
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“If it was a June game, if we knew in two or three weeks we were at 145, I would have made it happen,” he added. “Because I don’t walk around very tall, I’m about 175 right now. If I start eating clean, I’ll be 165. And then I can go down from there.”
That’s an interesting suggestion, especially coming from a guy who failed to make weight so badly in early 2025 that he couldn’t compete for the lightweight championship. The featherweight division certainly won’t be in as much trouble as the lightweight division for title contenders. Alexander Volkanovski will get a rematch with Diego Lopes at UFC 325 because no one else has a name he can trust. While “The Great” has made it clear he wants to fight top contenders like Movsar Evloev and Laeron Murphy next, he’ll also take on Chalukian.
“I like challenges. He’s obviously a tough challenge,” Volkanovski said at UFC 325 media day. “It’s definitely going to be a tough challenge if he gets here.”
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Walker sounded amused when reporters told him that Chalukyan threatened to end their possible fight with an ax kick in the face.
“Okay. Just kick me with an axe? Okay.” Volkanovski said with a smile. “He said he was going to kick me with an axe? Obviously he’s going to want to wrestle. Again, I love this guy, he’s hilarious. The PR he does is unbelievable. He’s another guy I’d love to do an episode of ‘Cooking with Walker’ with. I’ve actually done one with him. But yeah, if we faced him, everyone knows my wrestling defense is solid. If they forget that, I’ll remind them.”
Tsarukyan may not even need to drop down to 145 to face Volkanovski. While Alex is currently content to rebuild the momentum he lost following his loss to Ilia Topuria and previous attempts to move up to 155, it’s clear he still has his eye on the lightweight title.
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“We’ll see what happens with me,” Volkanovski said. “Whether Elijah will bounce back. I think he said he will [return] Mid-year. We’ll see what happens there. I mean, you have a stacked department. You also have Oman. We’ll see what happens. Maybe a few people win and maybe I get back into that conversation. We’ll see. “
For now, Alexander Volkanovski has to face the always scrappy Diego Lopes at UFC 325, which takes place on Saturday, January 31 in Sydney, Australia.
