Armenian lightweight contender Arman Tsarukyan spectacularly gatecrashed the title picture at 155 pounds with a 64-second demolition of longtime contender Beneil Dariush in Austin, Texas.
Tsarukyan and Dariush were expected to go head to head in a battle of elite grapplers, but ahead of the bout Tsarukyan had vowed to make a statement with a knockout victory.
Tsarukyan stepped into the Octagon a huge betting favorite, and he backed up the faith of the oddsmakers with a stunning performance to knock out Dariush with a jumping knee-right hand combination and deliver a huge statement to the UFC's lightweight elite.
After his victory, Tsarukyan paid tribute to Dariush's integrity and class, and praised him for being the only ranked contender who was prepared to face him. He then turned his attention to the top of the division, and vowed to fight for the title, and knock out Islam Makhachev
Islam is a different-level fighter. But we fought four years ago. I was 22 years old. Now I'm 27. Guys, I've improved. The next fight is going to be a different one. I'm going to knock him out.
In the co-main event, Jalin Turner overcame a short-notice call-up, and a tough weight cut, to knock out Bobby Green and bounce back into the win column in impressive style.
Turner looked in outstanding form as he finished Green decisively, but his display was marred by a very late stoppage by referee Kerry Hatley, who inexplicably allowed Turner to rain down multiple additional ground strikes on a clearly finished Green before eventually waving off the contest at the 2:49 mark of the opening round.
Elsewhere on the main card, former flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo made his bantamweight debut, and instantly put himself in the title mix with an impressive display against longtime contender Rob Font.
Font started well and looked to put his strikes together, but Figueiredo soon found his form and mixed up takedowns with heavy punches to eventually run out a shutout winner on the scorecards, with all three judges scoring it 30-27 to the former 125-pound champ.
The event delivered nine finishes from 12 fights, as the fight card served up an action-packed night of fights in Austin. But the big winner of the night was undoubtedly Tsarukyan, who propelled himself from dangerous fringe contender to legitimate title threat with a statement-making victory.
UFC Austin: Official results
MAIN CARD
- Arman Tsarukyan def. Beneil Dariush via knockout (knee and punches) – Round 1, 1:04
- Jalin Turner def. Bobby Green via knockout (ground strikes) – Round 1, 2:49
- Deiveson Figueiredo def. Rob Font via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Sean Brady def. Kelvin Gastelum via submission (Kimura) – Round 3, 1:43
- Joaquim Silva def. Clay Guida via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Dustin Stoltzfus def. Punahele Soriano via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 4:10
PRELIMINARY CARD
- Miesha Tate def. Julia Avila via submission (face crank) – Round 3, 1:15
- Cody Brundage def. Zachary Reese via knockout (slam and punches) – round 1, 1:49
- Drakkar Klose def. Joe Solecki via knockout (slam) – Round 1, 1:41
- Rodolfo Bellato def. Ihor Potieria via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 4:17
- Jared Gooden def. Wellington Turman via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 1:11
- Veronica Hardy def. Jamey-Lyn Horth via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
