Arman Tsarukyan is adamant that his win over Dan Hooker should be enough to earn him a title shot.
Tsarukyan (23-3 MMA, 10-2 UFC) dominated Hooker in the main event at UFC Qatar on Saturday, submitting the Kiwi in the second round to secure his fifth straight victory at 155 pounds. The win marked the Armenian’s first appearance inside the Octagon in more than 18 months and brings a positive close to a difficult year for the lightweight division’s No. 1 contender.
Tsarukyan had been lined up to face then-champion Islam Makhachev at UFC 311 last January before withdrawing at the eleventh hour due to a back injury. The incident appeared to draw the ire of Dana White, but the emphatic nature of Saturday’s win over Hooker may have put him back in the UFC president’s good graces.
With Ilia Topuria having won the lightweight belt earlier this year, Tsarukyan now has his sights set on earning a shot at the Spanish-Georgian champion early in 2026, although rumors continue to swirl that U.K. star Paddy Pimblett (23-3 MMA, 7-0 UFC) could be in line to face “El Matador” on the first major fight card of the Paramount Plus era in January.
“It's a hundred percent gotta be me,” Tsarukyan told ariel Helwani on Monday. “There's no way they can give Paddy Pimblett (the) fight. Everybody's going to laugh at them because I'm (the) number one contender. I proved it again. What do they want from me? I went there, performed, I just destroyed Hooker, and they want to put the guy who is fake making rank.”
Pimblett has enjoyed an unbeaten start to his UFC career since signing with the promotion in 2021. His sole appearance inside the Octagon of 2025 came at UFC 314 in April where he demolished Michael Chandler. The win saw him break into the top 10 of the UFC’s official lightweight rankings, and within the last week “The Baddy” entered the top 5, despite not having fought in 6 months.
“Bro, how you can beat like a number 12 or number 13 and become number five?” Tsarukyan asked. “I was beating everybody in our division. I was on (a) five or six (fight) win streak to get in top 15, you know, and like this guy just beat six people and like he's number five.”
