Arman Tsarukyan is set to fight next in the co-main event of UFC 331, and his opponent is not Charles Oliveira.
The event is set to take place on the 19th of September, 2026 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. Tsarukyan’s lightweight fight will be a 5-rounder.
The opponent the 29-year-old will be facing is Mauricio Ruffy. The #10-ranked Brazilian is on a two-fight winning streak with impressive TKO wins over Rafael Fiziev and Michael Chandler.
Check out UFC’s tweet announcing Arman Tsarukyan vs. Mauricio Ruffy below:
The 30-year-old has a record of 5-1 in the UFC, with his only loss coming against Benoit Saint Denis, back in September 2025.
Tsarukyan, on the other hand, is on a stunning five-fight winning run. Ranked number 2 in the Meta lightweight rankings, the Armenian-Russian was expected to rematch Charles Oliveira (whom he had beaten via split decision at UFC 300) in what could have been a lightweight title eliminator. For reasons unknown (at least for now), the UFC have booked him against Ruffy.
With Arman Tsarukyan Co-Headlining, Joshua Van vs. Alexandre Pantoja Set to Headline UFC 331
Joshua Van vs. Alexandre Pantoja 2 will be headlining UFC 331. Van, who won the flyweight title after Pantoja suffered an arm injury under 30 seconds of the first round at UFC 323, went on to defend the belt once, beating Tatsuro Taira at UFC 328 via a 5th-round TKO.
Pantoja, on the other hand, has not fought since his loss to Van in December 2025. The loss also snapped the Brazilian’s staggering 8-fight winning streak, which also saw him defend the belt four times.
