Ilia Topuria will steamroll Arman Tsarukyan in an authoritative fashion if the two are matched up, per a former UFC lightweight title challenger. This was stated by Renato Moicano during an interview with @laertevianamma, with footage of the chat also shared to X account @ RedCorner_MMA. Moicano and Tsarukyan are tied together based on how the story of UFC 311 unfurled in January of this year at the eleventh hour.
Tsarukyan was set to contend for the lightweight championship against Islam Makhachev before withdrawing from the contest at the last minute, which created a vacancy for Moicano, who was submitted in the bout’s opening stanza by the Dagestani powerhouse.
Touching upon how he sees the hotly discussed, but yet still unofficial, bout between Topuria and Tsarukyan, Moicano said,
I don’t think Arman Tsarukyan is as good as people think. I think Topuria would screw him. I have nothing against Arman, but Arman isn’t a guy I’d be friends with.”
Renato Moicano believes Ilia Topuria would dominate Arman Tsarukyan and says he’d never want to be friends with Arman. 👀😳
«I don’t think Arman Tsarukyan is as good as people think. I think Topuria would screw him. I have nothing against Arman, but Arman isn’t a guy I’d be… pic.twitter.com/G21vVr5TWB
— Red Corner MMA (@RedCorner_MMA) August 27, 2025
Ilia Topuria should fight Paddy pimblett next, per former UFC champion
Ilia Topuria making his first UFC lightweight title defense against long time rival Paddy Pimblett next according to one of the greatest bantamweight fighters of all time.
The two had an in-cage faceoff at UFC 317 in the moments after Ilia Topuria cemented hismelf as a two division UFC champion when he finished Charles Oliveira with the lasting image of the night being the Pimblett faceoff in the octagon with the newly minted titleholder.
Dominick Cruz would love to see the Pimblett-Topuria bout booked next which was a sentiment he expressed on the Anik & Florian Podcast. When discussing how he feels like the timing is right for this 155 pound championship to be booked, Cruz stated [via MMA Junkie],
“This thing’s about paychecks at a time. We’re prize fighters. We’re not anything else. We want to say we’re all these other things. We are prize fighters. You put a prize out there, we take the prize, you win it, or you lose it. Who’s the biggest prize? We all know the answer to this between those three.”
“So, if you’re smart, you take that fight like that guy’s the bag. Now, not to say the other guys aren’t good, but the problem is Paddy, it’s just that he promotes, he talks, he’s got a very big package. It just makes sense to make the most money with that fight. But now with this new deal coming forward, too, does that change the layout of if you care who you fight. Now are you just looking for the better, easier matchup?”
