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Arman Tsarukyan hasn’t fought since April 2024. | Getty/UFC
After a lengthy hiatus, Arman Tsarukyan will finally be back in the Octagon.
The former lightweight No. 1 contender will face Dan Hooker in the UFC Qatar headliner on Nov. 22, UFC CEO Dana White announced on Wednesday. Meanwhile, ex-welterweight king Belal Muhammad will take on Ian Garry in the evening’s co-main event. The UFC Fight Night event takes place at ABHA Arena in Doha, Qatar, and marks the Las Vegas-based promotion’s first visit to the Middle Eastern country.
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Tsarukyan earned a 155-pound title shot when he defeated Charles Oliveira via split decision at UFC 300 in April 2024. However, he was forced to pull out of a proposed championship clash against Islam Makhachev at UFC 311 due to a back injury on the week of the fight. As a result, the 28-year-old Russian lost his No. 1 contender status, and Ilia Topuria defeated Oliveira for the vacant belt at UFC 317. Tsarukyan has won nine of his last 10 Octagon appearances dating back to July 2019.
Hooker, meanwhile has endured his share of ups and downs during his UFC tenure. “The Hangman” won seven of eight promotional appearances from 2017 to 2020 before hitting a rocky patch, where he lost four of his next five fights in the Octagon. The City Kickboxing product, who is known as one of the sport’s most notorious action fighters, has since rebounded to post successive triumphs over Claudio Puelles, Jalin Turner and Mateusz Gamrot.
Muhammad Saw Lengthy Unbeaten Streak Snapped in May
Muhammad will return to action for the first time since relinquishing the 170-pound strap to Jack Della Maddalena in a unanimous decision defeat at UFC 315 this past May. Prior to that, “Remember the Name” had compiled an 11-fight unbeaten streak within the promotion, with notable wins over the likes of Leon Edwards, Gilbert Burns, Sean Brady, Vicente Luque, Stephen Thompson and Demian Maia.
Garry has emerged as one of the top talents in the welterweight division with victories in nine of his first 10 UFC outings. The Irish standout’s lone defeat came via unanimous decision to the undefeated Shavkat Rakhmonov at UFC 310, but “The Future” returned to the win column in his most recent appearance at UFC on ESPN 66, where he outpointed Carlos Prates on April 26.
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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