UFC 331: Arman Tsarukyan brutally knocks out Mauricio Ruffy, makes thunderous case for title shot

Arman Tsarukyan entered Saturday night's co-main event at UFC 331 as the favorite over his fill-in opponent, Mauricio Ruffy, and notched a statement win.

Time was ticking down in the first round, but Tsarukyan had just enough time to land the biggest blow of the night.

After controlling most of the action, he connected an elbow to Ruffy's head, dropping his opponent.

When you look at the replay, Tsarukyan actually appeared to knock Ruffy out with his first elbow shot. Tsarukyan then held up his opponent and landed another elbow, leaving no doubt about the win.

The knockout came with just six seconds left in the opening round.

"For my next fight, for the title fight, I need that finish," Tsarukyan said post-fight. "I knew that I was going to finish him. I knew I had five rounds and knew my time was going to come, and I was patient."

Tsarukyan added jokingly, "Title fight or Mark Zuckerberg, I want to fight you next."

The victory is Tsarukyan's sixth straight win. He came into the match ranked as the UFC's No. 2 lightweight fighter, behind only the champion Justin Gaethje and former champ Ilia Topuria. The latter dropped the belt at UFC Freedom 250 after being knocked out by Gaethje.

While Tsarukyan was favored to win Saturday's match, it was expected to be by submission or to go the distance, given Ruffy's typical resilience. Instead, the lightweight fighter picked up the 10th knockout victory of his career. It is the fifth fight Tsarukyan has won by knockout since debuting with the UFC in 2019.

Tsarukyan has long had a strong claim to a title shot, and Saturday's victory, especially ending in a first-round knockout, should leave no doubt about who his next opponent will be.

The lone problem for him is that Topuria posted on social media this week, calling out Gaethje, which could set up a rematch and further delay Tsarukyan's title shot.

After beating Ruffy, Tsarukyan moves to 24-3. He was originally scheduled to fight Charles Oliveira at UFC 331, however Oliveira pulled out after the death of Allan Nascimento, who was a close friend and teammate.

Tsarukyan said the change in the fight rubbed him the wrong way because "in three or four days, he's [Oliveira] doing live streams and like back in the camp."

It had been a minute since we had seen Tsarukyan in the Octagon. Before Saturday night, he last competed in November, when he submitted Dan Hooker in the second round.

Ruffy stepped in on short notice, with a chance to vault himself up the division's rankings. Instead, the loss moves him to 14-3. Still, his next fight should be another top-10 matchup, despite his first-round knockout loss.

Check out complete UFC 331 results, highlights and round-by-round updates here.