UFC President Dana White recently revealed Mauricio Ruffy was not the originally planned opponent for Arman Tsarukyan.

Tsarukyan will be taking on Ruffy in the co-main event of UFC 331 on the 19th of September, 2026, at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. The fight, which would be a potential title eliminator, will be a 5-rounder.

However, the announcement of Ruffy as Tsarukyan’s opponent did spring a surprise in the MMA community, as it was expected that the Armenian-Russian would take on Charles Oliveira in a rematch.

Arman Tsarukyan will take on Mauricio Ruffy in the co-main event of UFC 331 [Images via UFC and Getty]

Addressing the same in a chat with Nina Marie Daniele during the Zuffa Boxing 10 event in Dublin, Dana White stated that Ruffy wasn’t the fight they had planned for Tsarukyan. He said, seemingly referring to Oliveira as ‘original fight:’

No, no (not Ruffy)! His original fight fell out.

Check out Dana White’s comments below:

Dana White’s ‘Original Opponent’ Charles Oliveira Allegedly Pulled out Following Allan Nascimento’s Death

Charles Oliveira is said to have pulled out of the potential rematch against Arman Tsarukyan due to the death of his teammate Allan Nascimento.

The late Allan Nascimento passed away on the 3rd of August due to a heart attack (via UFC)

Nascimento, also an UFC fighter (in the flyweight division), passed away on the 3rd of August due to ‘an apparent heart attack’ he suffered in his sleep. Right after his death, Oliveira addressed the death of his ‘brother’ Nascimento in a touching Instagram story, where he wrote:

Today I lost a brother that fighting gave me. Thank you forever for sharing the mats, the training, and everything we’ve been through together…I have nothing but gratitude for having you by my side, brother—in training, in our corner, and in all the moments we shared. I love you, man. You were an incredible guy. I can’t believe it. You will be missed a lot.

Oliveira is not over Nascimento’s death as he continues posting a boatload of tributes to the late fighter.

Gerard Crispin

Gerard Crispin is an editor and writer with expertise across MMA, Football, Tennis, Cricket, NBA and F1. He has published over 3500 articles in Combat Sports, across multiple websites, viz. Sportskeeda, FanSided MMA, MediaReferee, FirstSportz and PFSN. Crispin currently covers UFC for LowKickMMA.