"We’re friends, but the featherweight title is mine": Arman Tsarukyan received a warning from a Russian friend against making a bold move to capture the UFC title

Arman Tsarukyan has recently been all over the news headlines. His recent activities on social media include everything from taking shots at fighters to showing off his luxurious lifestyle.

But in the midst of all of that, one of his bold ambitions is to move down and challenge for the UFC featherweight title, and he has received a blunt response from one of his friends.Tsarukyan hasn’t appeared to be in the UFC’s favor for a title shot lately. Now, instead of waiting for a chance, Tsarukyan advised dropping to the featherweight division and fighting straight for the title. While that move could undoubtedly result in an entertaining matchup between Tsarukyan and the champ, Alexander Volkanovski, Movsar Evloev disagrees.

Movsar Evloev crushes Arman Tsarukyan's title hopes with a proposal

“Better if he fights with [Jean] Silva until I get the title,” stated Movsar Evloev during an interview with Submission Radio. “We train together with Arman. You know, we talk; we are friends. I don’t know. I don’t want to say anything about him, you know, against him. But the featherweight title is mine, and I don’t want to let anybody, you know, even talk about my title.”

Evloev’s direct response to Tsarukyan's desire for a featherweight belt can be justified, and this comes despite their close connection.

Similar to Tsarukyan, Evloev has been among the leading contenders in his division. However, due to his frequent injuries, the Russian has experienced prolonged layoffs and absences between UFC fights.Now, as other competitors like Diego Lopes have been defeated by Alexander Volkanovski in championship bouts, Evloev wants to compete for the title next. However, before that, the Russian must first defeat Lerone Murphy on March 21 at UFC London.

In the midst of that, Arman Tsarukyan will have to wait for his chance if he moves down to featherweight. But his proposal is undoubtedly fascinating.

Alexander Volkanovski finds "featherweight" Tsarukyan interesting

With just two defeats in 12 fights, Arman Tsarukyan has an impressive record in the UFC lightweight division. In addition, he has a high-standard grappling and wrestling fighting style. For which he stylistically surpasses many of his rivals. Therefore, featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski would be a challenging matchup in their division.“But yeah, whether he gets to come in and jump straight to the front of the line, I don’t know about that. But it’d be very exciting, obviously a tough challenge for any of us in our division,” Volkanovski said in an interview with Complex.While the conversations appear to be quite energetic, Tsarukyan’s next move is still unknown. In November 2025, he fought against Dan Hooker in his last bout in the octagon at UFC Qatar. Now, with Ilia Topuria and Justin Gaethje fighting in a lightweight title unification bout, Tsarukyan is now out of the title picture for now.