If it was Beneil Dariush in 2023, Charles Oliveira followed in 2024. Now, just two days separate Arman Tsarukyan from adding one more marquee name to his resume. On Saturday, November 22, the eyes of the MMA world will zero in on Doha’s ABHA Arena. Headlining UFC Qatar, or more officially, UFC Fight Night 265, the Armenian lightweight aims to expose the chinks in veteran Dan Hooker’s armor—the stakes are high altogether.

Diehards will be glued to the idiot box. But spare a moment for those sitting cageside. Milling among the who’s who, lightweight champion Ilia Topuria will be watching, keeping an eye as the UFC Qatar unfolds. The Georgian-Spanish champion has personal reasons for attending the fight night. The preliminary card features elder brother Alexandre Topuria fighting Kazakhstan’s Bekzat Almakhan in a bantamweight fight. Still, one can easily connect the dots and expect the P4P second-ranked fighter to wait till the headliner concludes since Dana White‘s words now echo loudly, and Topuria can barely afford to ignore the main event.

Dana White lines up the Tsarukyan – Hooker winner for Ilia Topuria next

Old footage of the UFC president has sparked widespread buzz. It pertains to the post-fight presser of UFC 320. A reporter asked, “Dana, earlier this week, you scheduled Arman Tsarukyan to fight Dan Hooker in November. And will the winner of that fight become the number one contender in the lightweight division?” Taking a brief moment to gather his thoughts, White responded, “Will the winner of that? Yeah. Yeah.”

The original footage is a month old now. Still, as MMA Uncensored shared it ahead of Tsarukyan vs. Hooker, fans and users rolled in with their own assumptions and speculations. “This basically confirms the UFC 324 main event, Ilia vs. the winner,” said one. With Ilia Topuria leading the pack, the lightweight lineup boasts Arman Tsarukyan as the number one contender. Moving up a position, Hooker currently stands at the sixth position.

If the New Zealander wins the fight, he could be in direct line to stake a claim at Topuria’s belt.

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Contenders line up for Topuria, yet he’s looking beyond them

But Arman Tsarukyan appears equally determined. He wants Ilia Topuria’s title. “Before the title fight I need a good fight,” he said, making his intentions explicit. And to that extent, he hopes to put in a solid performance in Doha. “It’s so important to show I’m on a different level…. My focus right now is my weight class, 155. I want to be a champion here; I just think about being a champion.”

Tsarukyan has been inactive since his last fight against Charles Oliveira. An opportunity to avenge his debut loss to Islam Makhachev appeared early in January this year. However, an injury forced him to pull out of UFC 311. Subsequent months saw him using social media to call out Ilia Topuria.

Either way, be it Tsarukyan or Hooker, it’s a threat for the Georgian-Spanish champion. His pound-for-pound ranking has already been rocked by Islam Makhachev.

Still, despite Dana White demarcating the lines, Topuria could potentially set up for a more lucrative matchup. Expressing interest in the increasingly famous White House card, ‘El Matador’ believes the fight between him and Makhachev will be one for the ages.  “I think it would be one of the biggest fights in UFC history: no one has ever fought for a third title, and Islam has dominantly finished everything he needed to do in his division and then changed weight classes. I think it’s a fight of a giant magnitude, which suits us all, as well as the UFC,” he reportedly said.

So fans should wait and watch. First, the outcome of the Doha fight night. Later, they need to watch out for the UFC’s decision. Will the winner receive the title shot, or will Topuria bypass the title defense for a legacy superfight?

What’s your take on Dana White’s comments about the lightweight contention?