According to a recent victor in the UFC’s lightweight division, Arman Tsarukyan may pose a significant challenge to Ilia Topuria. Kyle Nelson, the fighter in question, expressed this opinion after making a memorable entrance into the lightweight scene at UFC Vancouver, previously competing as a featherweight.
Over the weekend, ‘The Monster’ secured a victory against Matt Frevola. Frevola previously fought Arman Tsarukyan, who was initially slated to compete for the 155-pound title in January.
Kyle Nelson has also faced Jai Herbert in the UFC, who many believe gave current lightweight titleholder Ilia Topuria one of his more difficult fights inside the Octagon.
Kyle Nelson believes Arman Tsarukyan is “a big lightweight that might be able to put his weight on” Ilia Topuria
Considering the aforementioned connections, Kyle Nelson was asked for his thoughts on Ilia Topuria now that Nelson is competing at 155 pounds. He stated [via MMA Canada],
“I think Ilia has shown he’s capable. He’s recently finished some impressive opponents. You know, his knockout of Max Holloway, and the Volkanovski fight. I think it’s generally believed it might have been a little bit soon after the knockout.”
“You can’t deny his [Topuria’s] capabilities. He’s competed with guys like Bryce Mitchell… [Ryan] Hall, skilled jiu-jitsu guys and stood his ground. We have not really seen him get out wrestled. We have not really seen him get out struck. So he’s definitely; I think we’re going to see him stay at the top for a while.”
“And the greatest obstacle he could run into might be someone like Arman [Tsarukyan], just a bigger guy at lightweight who might be able to use his weight against him. Against [Charles] Oliveira, we saw a situation where they were on the fence. It looked like Oliveira maybe had a bit of an advantage in size and strength over Topuria.”
“So, it’ll be interesting to see how Topuria responds in a situation with someone like Arman putting him in that kind of position. In the striking department, I don’t see anyone putting together the same kind of crisp, clean boxing with that knockout capability.”
