Tsarukyan Flattens Ruffy With Buzzer-Beating Elbow to Lock Up Title Shot
Arman Tsarukyan knocked Mauricio Ruffy unconscious with a left elbow at 4:56 of round one in the UFC 331 co-main event.
Arman Tsarukyan waited two years for another crack at UFC lightweight gold. On Saturday night at UFC 331, he made sure nobody could deny him a second longer.
Tsarukyan knocked out Mauricio Ruffy with a devastating left elbow at 4:56 of the first round in the co-main event at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. Four seconds later and it would have gone to a second round. Instead, Ruffy was unconscious on the canvas, per LowKick MMA.
The fight was more competitive than the finish suggests. Ruffy, who had trained extensively with Alexander Volkanovski according to the broadcast, showed excellent takedown defense early and landed clean strikes that caused visible swelling around Tsarukyan's eye. But with the round winding down, Tsarukyan abandoned a takedown attempt and pivoted to the elbow that ended everything. A follow-up elbow landed before the referee could intervene.
Tsarukyan wasted no time after the stoppage. He leaped out of the octagon, shook Dana White's hand, and made his pitch for the lightweight title shot he has been chasing since losing to Islam Makhachev at UFC 311 in January 2025.
The win puts Tsarukyan ahead of both Ilia Topuria, who was recently cleared to return after injury, and former champion Charles Oliveira in the lightweight title conversation, per MMA Mania. After spending two years in what the MMA community has called "lightweight purgatory," Tsarukyan's case is now undeniable.
Four seconds from the horn and Arman ends it with a left elbow. That is a fighter who refuses to let a round get away from him. And make no mistake, Ruffy was winning stretches of that round. Great takedown defense, clean shots, Arman's eye swelling up. Then he gave up on the takedown, pivoted, and the lights went out.
This is what two years of purgatory does to a guy. Since the Makhachev withdrawal he has been the contender nobody wanted to book, and he fought like a man who knew one more decision win would not be enough. Jumping the cage to shake Dana's hand was calculated and it was right.
He is ahead of Topuria and Oliveira now and the story is correct that his case is undeniable. My only worry is the same one as always: the belt has to actually be available. If it is not, put an interim strap on him in December and stop wasting the best lightweight streak in the division.
