Arman Tsarukyan didn’t exactly leave Justin Gaethje much room to argue after UFC 331. The Armenian lightweight contender went out there, blasted Mauricio Ruffy into a first-round knockout, and then basically claimed the next title shot for himself.

“Title shot secured,” Tsarukyan posted after the win while calling out Gaethje. And now, it looks like ‘The Highlight’ isn’t exactly fighting him on it. In fact, the lightweight champion has all but admitted that ‘Ahalkalakets’ is sitting right at the front of the line.

“It’s natural and obvious that… try to figure out who the next fight is,” he said on One Night with Steiny. “Arman just had a huge fight, a huge win. So I think, you know, obviously he’s at the forefront of everybody’s mind, and he’s clearly the next contender.

“If I was able and willing to fight this year, then we would be fighting at the end of this year.”

That last part is the real kicker. Justin Gaethje isn’t exactly in a position to jump straight into another title fight right now. The 37-year-old is still dealing with injuries from his June showdown with Ilia Topuria, where he unified the lightweight titles at UFC Freedom 250 on the White House lawn.

Earlier this week, ‘The Highlight’ admitted on the Flagrant podcast that he’s still dealing with an injury in his knee and can’t even properly throw punches with one of his hands.

So, it’s not a case of the champion trying to dodge Arman Tsarukyan. He’s just not sure when his body will let him get back in there.

“It’s not that I don’t want to fight Arman; it really isn’t,” he said. “He’s the next in line; if and when I defend this championship, that will be who I fight. I just don’t know.”

And honestly, Justin Gaethje’s hesitation makes a lot more sense when you look at what his body has been through this year. The champion has already fought twice in 2026, first beating Paddy Pimblett for the interim lightweight title at UFC 324 in January before going on to unify the belts against Topuria in June.

Neither fight was exactly a walk in the park, either. Both were brutal and bloody wars to say the least. Now ‘The Highlight’ says he needs some time to put the brakes on and actually recover.

“I gave a lot of myself for this fight in January,” he continued. “In June, luckily I came out on top, but it cost me a lot, so I need to recover.

“I need to rest my brain because a lot of training went into those fights.”

The 37-year-old hasn’t completely shut the door on a potential Conor McGregor fight either, but for now, even the champion seems to understand why Arman Tsarukyan is sitting right at the front of the line.

There’s just one problem. Not everyone is ready to hand ‘Ahalkalakets’ that title shot quite yet.

Dana White refuses to guarantee Arman Tsarukyan a title shot against Justin Gaethje despite the UFC 331 knockout

Arman Tsarukyan did pretty much everything he could at UFC 331 to make the next title shot impossible to ignore. Ten months after submitting Dan Hooker in Qatar, ‘The Batman’ made his return and switched things up completely. This time, there was no long grappling battle.

‘Ahalkalakets’ slept Mauricio Ruffy with a first-round knockout in the September 19 co-main event. That win pushed his streak to six straight victories and put him right in the middle of the title-shot conversation.

Justin Gaethje already seems to know who should be next. Dana White? Not so fast. The UFC CEO still isn’t ready to guarantee that the Armenian will get the next shot at the lightweight throne.

When Dana White was asked at the UFC 331 post-fight press conference if Tsarukyan would be next in line for Justin Gaethje, the UFC CEO wasn’t exactly ready to hand out an answer.

“I don’t know. We’ll see,” White said. “That’s up to — we don’t know what Gaethje is thinking yet.”

White did confirm that ‘The Highlight’ was in the building for Tsarukyan’s big win, meaning the champion got a front-row seat to the knockout that could have just secured his next challenger. Or at least would have watched it unfold, had he not received an important call from the POTUS.

“He was here tonight, so he saw the fight. We’ll see where his head is at,” White added.

So, for now, Arman Tsarukyan’s next move is still hanging in the air. A lot could come down to Justin Gaethje, although the champion has made it pretty clear that his hesitation has nothing to do with money.

However, there’s another wrinkle here: ‘The Highlight’ has openly admitted that retirement has crossed his mind since becoming the undisputed lightweight champion.

“I’m just going to enjoy being the champion for the rest of the year,” Gaethje said on the Flagrant podcast. “I’m going to make a business decision and a life decision whenever the time comes.”

That has naturally led to some speculation about whether the champion’s hesitation could have something to do with money or a bigger payday. The champion, however, has shut that idea down.

“This has never been about money for me,” Gaethje said. “It’s about health.”

And honestly, it’s hard to blame the 37-year-old for thinking about his future. He’s been fighting professionally since 2008 and has racked up 40 fights when his amateur bouts are included. That’s a lot of mileage for any fighter.

As for ‘Ahalkalakets,’ there really isn’t much more he can do inside the Octagon. He has already won six straight, blew through Mauricio Ruffy in the first round, and wasted no time calling for the title afterward.

For now, it’s simply a matter of when the champion will be healthy enough and ready to put the belt on the line.