Arman Tsarukyan still does not have his next UFC fight, but he may already have his next grappling match lined up.
That is where the story stands now. Tsarukyan has stayed busy enough to keep his name hot, from the mess that followed his Urijah Faber grappling match to the fresh noise around his back-and-forth with Ilia Topuria. Now he says UFC BJJ wants him in there with Mikey Musumeci, which is fun on paper, but it also raises the same question fans keep asking. Why is one of the lightweight division’s most dangerous names doing everything except fighting in the UFC?
During a recent interview with Ariel Helwani, Tsarukyan was asked about Claudia Gadelha saying the promotion was looking at a grappling match between him and Musumeci. Tsarukyan did not hedge.
“Yeah, it’s a real thing. It’s probably going to be in August or September. So I want to do that but I still want to do one grappling before him because these are new rules, I got to see how it works. [So] May 30th, then maybe UFC BJJ, then UFC, and then WWE. That’s my goal, do a jump into the fans or some crazy things.”
That answer confirmed the Musumeci match is a real option. If it happens, it gives UFC BJJ a high-profile name and gives Tsarukyan another chance to stay active while he waits on the lightweight picture to move.
Tsarukyan says UFC is still the real target
For all the noise around side missions, Tsarukyan made it clear he is not treating grappling as the end goal. He is still chasing the same thing he has been chasing all along, and that is a real UFC run, a title, and eventually a shot at becoming the best fighter on the roster. That ambition has been easy to see in everything from his confidence against all-time names like Khabib Nurmagomedov to how loudly he keeps calling for bigger fights.
“Right now my goal is UFC. I wake up thinking when I’m going to get my next fight and go to bed thinking about UFC as well. The UFC motivates me more than everything in this life right now. I just don’t want to be champion, I want to be the best UFC fighter, pound-for-pound. I’m 29, so I got seven years. For seven years, you can make a bunch of money, get a lot of belts, and then retire. I feel like 37 is a good time to go and do WWE.”
Tsarukyan made clear that grappling is not the main goal. He still wants a real UFC run, a title, and a chance to prove he belongs in the pound-for-pound conversation.
A Musumeci match would still be a strong attraction because Musumeci is elite on the mat and Tsarukyan is a serious grappler. But the clean takeaway is simple. Tsarukyan keeps finding work everywhere while he waits for the UFC to give him another actual fight, and his next real return will only draw more attention if that wait keeps dragging on.
