UFC analyst couldn't possibly fathom Arman Tsarukyan knocking out Mauricio Ruffy - MMA Junkie
Daniel Cormier says Arman Tsarukyan cemented himself as No. 1 contender with unexpected finish at UFC 331.
Tsarukyan (24-3 MMA, 11-2 UFC) knocked out Mauricio Ruffy (14-3 MMA, 5-2 UFC) with a pair of brutal elbows in Round 1 of Saturday's co-main event at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
Cormier lauds Tsarukyan for taking a risky fight against Ruffy, and expected his path to victory to be on the ground. With everything Tsarukyan has been doing in and out of the octagon, Cormier thinks a title shot should be a no-brainer.
"Mauricio Ruffy is a very, very dangerous opponent," Cormier said on his YouTube channel. "A lot of people, maybe not publicly, but they wonder why Arman Tsarukyan would do it. Why is he fighting this guy that has the potential to take everything he's worked for? Many pointed to the fight between Mauricio Ruffy and Benoit Saint Denis as the way that this fight will go. If you gave me 100 outcomes, the outcome we got tonight would never be one I would have chosen. I would never have guessed that Arman would, one, knock him out, two, knock him out with a left elbow – after landing that left elbow, holding him up and then hitting him with another elbow before he eventually let him fall to the ground and got the finish. It was probably Arman's best performance. He needed that.
"He needed to find a way to secure his position as the No. 1 contender, and here's what's important. I was watching Hunter Campbell, Dana White, as Arman walked out and the way the crowd reacted to him. You could see the interest, right? Arman managed to go off into the world, make himself undeniable in a way that didn't even take him fighting inside of the octagon. That's hard to do. Arman Tsarukyan did enough to become a bigger star without using the UFC's platform, and he really should be commended for that because that's a hard thing to do. But from the wrestling, the boxing, the grappling, the streaming, I mean, he just did everything right to put himself in this position. And tonight, once again, he did everything right and won in a way where he's made himself undeniable."
Cormier explained what makes Tsarukyan scary at this point in his career.
"Joe Rogan called him Bruce Wayne, the Batman, and that's his new nickname," Cormier said. "Because, guys, fighting me was dangerous because I was fighting to change my life, my kids' life, and my whole family's life. But fighting a kid who doesn't need this like Arman Tsarukyan, who's rich and just fighting because he wants to fight, might be even more dangerous because he doesn't need this. He's doing this for the love of fighting. That's crazy, and he's getting better every single time. So, congratulations to Arman Tsarukyan."
