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UFC 328

UFC lightweight contender Arman Tsarukyan reacted to the outcome of the UFC 328 main event title fight headliner.

Tsarukyan is a close friend of Khamzat Chimaev, who put his UFC middleweight title on the line in the main event against Sean Strickland. After five hard-fought rounds, the judges gave Strickland a split decision nod, a decision that UFC president Dana White said he agreed with. But not everyone was as confident in the judges’ scorecards being correct.

Arman Tsarukyan Reacts to UFC 328 Decision

Taking to his social media following the fight, Tsarukyan released a statement giving his thoughts on the middleweight title bout, while sharing a photo of himself and Chimaev in the locker room from before the fight. In the statement, Tsarukyan implied that the judges got the scorecards wrong.

“We fought our hearts out tonight and everyone watching knows what really happened. Head up Champ. You will get your belt back soon,” Tsarukyan wrote on his Instagram.

Interestingly, Tsarukyan said that Chimaev would get his belt back soon, something which seems up in the air following UFC 328.

After the event, White told the media that Chimaev has informed him that he is moving up to light heavyweight for his next bout, a decision that makes total sense given how difficult a weight cut it is for Chimaev to get down to 185 lbs. After all, he was the last man on the scale at the official UFC 328 weigh-ins, and it appeared during the fight that the giant weight cut down to middleweight sapped Chimaev’s vaunted strength.

However, Chimaev posted a message to Strickland on X after the fight, suggesting that he was looking for a rematch. So we will see what he decides to do next, though given the difficult weight cut and how it appeared to affect him in the fight, a move up to 205 lbs makes more sense for Chimaev.

What’s Next for Arman Tsarukyan?

As for Tsarukyan, Chimaev’s close friend, he will be the official backup fighter for the upcoming UFC Freedom 250 main event between UFC lightweight champion Ilia Topuria and interim UFC lightweight champion Justin Gaethje. Should anything happen to either of those fighters before the bout, then Tsarukyan will be next in line to fight for the title. He will also be paid as a backup fighter to train and make weight in case one of the two fighters misses weight, and he has to step in on short notice.

Either way, Tsarukyan is going to be fighting for the UFC lightweight title in his next bout, even if he doesn’t get a chance to do so at UFC Freedom 250. Coming off back-to-back impressive wins over Charles Oliveira and Dan Hooker, it’s time that Tsarukyan gets his chance to fight for UFC gold. In the meantime, he will continue to show support for his friend Chimaev, who is no longer a UFC champion after what happened in the main event of UFC 328. Soon, we’ll find out what Chimaev’s next move is, but regardless of what he does, Tsarukyan will be there in his corner, rooting for him.