January 8, 2024 12:15 am ET
Former champion Charles Oliveira’s path back to the lightweight title will have to go through a rising Armenian standout.
Oliveira (34-9 MMA, 22-9 UFC) will return at UFC 300 in April to take on Arman Tsarukyan (21-3 MMA, 8-2 UFC) in a No. 1 contenders bout. UFC CEO Dana White made the announcement late Sunday on Instagram.
UFC 300 takes place April 13 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims expected for ESPN and ESPN+.
Oliveira got back in the win colulmn in a big way this past June when he took out Beneil Dariush with a first-round knockout at UFC 289. Oliveira won the vacant lightweight title against Michael Chandler in 2021, then defended it against Dustin Poirier later that year. But he missed weight for a title defense against Justin Gaethje and was stripped of the belt.
Against Islam Makhachev in October 2022, he tapped to an arm-triangle choke in the second round trying to recapture the title. It was his first loss in nearly five years.
The 27-year-old Tsarukyan has won three straight fights. In December, he took out Dariush in 64 seconds for a vicious TKO Performance of the Night bonus to build on a stoppage of Joaquim Silva and a decision over Damir Ismagulov.
With the addition, the UFC 300 card now includes:
Jiri Prochazka vs. Aleksandar Rakic
Calvin Kattar vs. Aljamain Sterling
Cody Brundage vs. Bo Nickal
Charles Oliveira vs. Arman Tsarukyan
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 300.
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