Mauricio Ruffy Gives Reasoning on Why Arman Tsarukyan Isn’t Uncrowned Champion Yet

Mauricio Ruffy will be eager to pull off an upset at the UFC 331 co-main event. A win against Armenian fighter Arman Tsarukyan could potentially make Ruffy the number one contender to fight for Justin Gaethje’s title. It'll also add some significant volume to Ruffy’s credibility as a strong fighter if he's able to topple ‘Ahalkalakets.’ Ahead of their fight, Ruffy had some strong statements against his upcoming opponent. 

During the pre-bout presser, Ruffy was asked whether beating Tsarukyan was more important to him. As the Armenian star was being touted as the ‘uncrowned champion.’ Replying to the same, the Brazilian mixed martial artist pointed out that one needs to actually win a title to be called the champion. And Tsarukyan hasn’t done that yet. 

Ruffy stated, “I think a little bit differently because I think you need to get a belt to be a champion. If you think about the past couple years he's had like what one two fights and l've had six fights so l've remained active and I'm going into my third fight this year looking for my third win.”

Ruffy does have a point here. Following his impressive win against Charles Oliveira at UFC 300, it was expected that Tsarukyan was next in line to contest for the lightweight belt. But he came back after more than a year to fight Dan Hooker in November 2025. 

Meanwhile, as Ruffy is looking to up the ante, Tsarukyan remains confident about his chances of winning. 

Arman Tsarukyan Oozes Confidence Ahead of UFC 331 

To sharpen his skills, Ruffy has left no stone unturned. He has worked with the likes of Alexander Volkanovski and Israel Adesanya ahead of the fight. Despite all such efforts from his opponent, Tsarukyan believes that he remains the better fighter between the two. 

Elaborating on the same, Tsarukyan stated, “You cannot compare Adesanya with me, and you cannot compare Volkanovski with me. They’re completely different fighters. Yeah, he has power, and he has good striking, but I’m better everywhere. So with my wrestling and my striking that I can mix, I can always strike him.”

As the verbal battle gets intense, fans will wait to see who actually comes out on the winning side this Saturday.