Arman Tsarukyan: Oliveira is Making Excuses to Avoid Our Rematch

Arman Tsarukyan is somewhat perplexed as to why he won't be facing Charles Oliveira in a rematch.

According to initial reports from American media, Tsarukyan was slated to fight Oliveira at UFC 331 on September 19th at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. Instead, the organization announced that the Armenian fighter would face rising lightweight star Mauricio Ruffy.

Tsarukyan confirmed that a rematch with Oliveira was far more than just a rumor; it was the original plan for the co-main event of UFC 331.

“I was supposed to fight Charles – co-main event, five rounds,” Tsarukyan stated on Monday’s “The Ariel Helwani Show.” “Then I went to training camp, and two weeks later, while I was in the mountains, I got a call saying, ‘We have a new name for you. It’s Ruffy.’ I replied, ‘Okay, no problem,’ because I don’t want to pull out and wait for the rematch with Charles, as the event is in Los Angeles, five rounds. You know, it’s a big gala, and I haven’t fought in a long time, and I need this match. And yeah, that’s it.”

Tsarukyan was informed that circumstances had changed following the death of UFC flyweight fighter Allan Nascimento, a friend and teammate of Oliveira. However, Tsarukyan isn't entirely convinced this is the true reason, believing Oliveira used the incident as an excuse to avoid a fight with him, especially since the Brazilian continued training and was seen live-streaming on TikTok.

Tsarukyan has not received confirmation from UFC management that Oliveira will indeed fight Diego Lopes. These are merely his assumptions.

Lopes, who competes in the featherweight division, posted a photo last week with UFC chief matchmaker Hunter Campbell, adding the hashtag “#155,” hinting at his desired move to lightweight.