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If Arman Tsarukyan doesn’t get the next UFC lightweight title shot, he has a willing dance partner who just scored a big win in Paris.
Entering UFC Paris this past Saturday, Benoit Saint Denis was an underdog against the surging Mauricio Ruffy. There was some buzz surrounding Ruffy, who is a member of the Fighting Nerds. Ruffy also drew the ire of some when he bashed grapplers ahead of fight night.
As it turns out, Ruffy needed an answer for Saint Denis’ grappling, and he couldn’t find it. Saint Denis scored a second-round submission finish. Speaking to reporters during the UFC Paris post-fight press conference, Saint Denis called out three notable lightweight names, and one of them was Tsarukyan (via MMAJunkie).
“Now I’m back at it, and I cannot wait to showcase that by facing a guy like Arman, (Dan) Hooker, (Mateusz) Gamrot – I mean, anybody inside the top 10. I know they wanted to make Arman vs. Gamrot. They wanted to make me vs. Gamrot. It didn’t work. Maybe me vs. Arman, because obviously Gamrot vs. Arman was already made. I don’t know what will be the UFC’s plans, but I refuse nobody. I’m back at the version of myself which is fight as much as possible and win as much as possible, no matter the opponent.”
“God of War” has rebounded nicely after dropping back-to-back bouts against Dustin Poirier and Renato Moicano. The defeats left many questioning if the bloom was off the rose for Saint Denis, but finishes over Kyle Prepolec and Ruffy have calmed that chatter down.
There is a slew of fun matchups for the UFC to book Saint Denis in. The question is, how far does the UFC brass feel “BSD” has moved up the 155-pound ladder? Calling out Tsarukyan is a big ask, given he is the No. 2-ranked UFC lightweight while Saint Denis sits at No. 13 prior to the post-UFC Paris rankings update.
