Arman Tsarukyan said he needed a finish. Judging by this photograph, referee Jason Herzog also needed to explain when the finishing part was actually finished. Tsarukyan had spent much of the opening round of UFC 331 discovering why Mauricio Ruffy was considered one of lightweight’s nastiest strikers. Ruffy defended the wrestling, landed enough clean shots to leave Tsarukyan’s right eye badly swollen, and made the No. 1 contender work for everything. But with seconds remaining, Tsarukyan found the opening he had been hunting. A savage elbow buckled Ruffy against the fence, another put him down, and Herzog jumped between them with just seconds remaining in the round. The urgency had a reason. Tsarukyan believed simply beating Ruffy wouldn’t be enough to secure another shot at UFC lightweight gold. The knockout extended Tsarukyan’s winning streak and strengthened his case to challenge lightweight champion Justin Gaethje. Tsarukyan later summed up the performance rather neatly: “I made the best statement that I could do today.”

For once, the photograph makes arguing with him rather difficult.