Arman Tsarukyan believed he had done everything right. He walked into UFC Qatar as the favorite, dismantled Dan Hooker with a second-round submission, and left with a Performance of the Night bonus around his waist. So when he sat down with Ariel Helwani days later, he didn’t couch his words or soften his stance. “ It’s 100 percent got to be me. No way they can give Paddy Pimblett that fight,” he said, insisting his resume spoke louder than any rivalry storyline the UFC preferred.

From his perspective, Pimblett’s rise had been more fairy tale than fight merit. And the idea that the Liverpool star could leapfrog him for a title fight? That was the final sting. But soon after, the landscape of the entire lightweight division shifted.

During the recent NFL broadcast of Chiefs vs. Cowbo

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