UFC Austin 2023 Results & Recap: Arman Tsarukyan Enters Top 5 Lightweight Rankings With Stunning KO Of Beneil Dariush

Austin, December 3: Arman Tsarukyan entered the top 5 lightweight ranking with a stunning first round stoppage of Beneil Dariush in the UFC Austin 2023: Dariush vs. Tsarukyan headliner at the Moody Center in Austin, Texas on Saturday (December 2) night.

The Moody Center witnessed a thrilling UFC Fight Night stacked with highlight reel-worthy finishes, underdog triumphs, and a lot of movement in the rankings as the Octagon return to the Lone Star State for the second successive year.

As proof of the incredible action, there were eight Performance bonuses awarded, and Fight of the Night went to the light heavyweight bout on the prelims, Rodolfo Bellato versus Ihor Potieria.

Jared Gooden, Drakkar Klose, Cody Brundage, Miesha Tate, Dustin Stoltzfus, Sean Brady, Jalin Turner and main-eventer Tsarukyan were the eight fighters, who bagged an extra USD50K as performance bonuses for their respective stoppage wins.

In fact, the 12-card saw 9 fights end in stoppages and three go the distance. Among the 9 stoppages, four fights ended in submission and five were either a knockout or technical knockout. Here is a look at the recap and results of UFC on ESPN: Dariush vs. Tsarukyan:

UFC Austin 2023 Recap

No one expected the main event fight between lightweight contenders No. 4 ranked Dariush and No.9 ranked Tsarukyan to go the distance, but no one expected how quick the ending would come.

Tsarukyan landed a knee and a right punch before his foot hit the ground, knocking out Dariush in just over one minute of action. That's all it took for the up and coming phenom to assert himself into the title picture.

Following the quick finish, Tsarukyan said, "For sure I was expecting a knock out. I told you guys, I don't want to win by decision. I just wanted to knock him out and go home, then get the title fight.

"Thank you, Beneil. He's the most respectful fighter in our division. He's very good, and I appreciate him, because nobody wanted to fight with me. Hopefully, the next fight will be for the title. I'm going to be the champion, trust me, guys."

In the co-main event, No. 12 ranked lightweight contender Turner defended his ranking in a late notice stand in fight against No. 13 ranked Bobby Green. Firing off sniping shots to an unfazed Green, Turner remained patient and landed a right hand that dropped and stopped him in the first round.

After the win, Turner said, "I delivered! That's what I do every time I step in here. I put my heart on the line. We come from the same area, and it was rough, so I wanted to help my brother come up, but you've got to do what you've got to do. Bobby was wobbled, but I've got to go until they pull me off, that's part of my job."

Also on the main card, Sean Brady returned to action after a year on the sidelines with a dominant submission win over Kelvin Gastelum before Deiveson Figueiredo made his bantamweight entry with a hard-fought victory over one of the top contender in Rob Font.

Plus, Dustin Stoltzfus opened the main card with a second-round submission win over Punahele Soriano before Joaquim Silva collected a unanimous decision win over Clay Guida.

Meanwhile the preliminary card saw Jared Gooden, Drakkar Klose, Cody Brundage, Miesha Tate and Rodolfo Bellato claimed stoppage wins in their respective bouts, while the event opener saw Veronica Hardy edge Jamey-Lyn Horth for a split decision. Here is a look at the final results:

UFC Austin 2023 Results

• Lightweight Bout: Arman Tsarukyan defeated Beneil Dariush by KO (strikes) at 1:04 of Round 1
• Lightweight Bout: Jalin Turner defeated Bobby Green by KO (strikes) at 2:49 of Round 1
• Bantamweight Bout: Deiveson Figueiredo defeated Rob Font by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Welterweight Bout: Sean Brady defeated Kelvin Gastelum by submission (kimura) at 1:43 of Round 3
• Lightweight Bout: Joaquim Silva defeated Clay Guida by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Middleweight Bout: Dustin Stoltzfus defeated Punahele Soriano by submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:10 of Round 2
• Women's Bantamweight Bout: Miesha Tate defeated Julia Avila by submission (rear-naked choke) at 1:15 of Round 3
• Middleweight Bout: Cody Brundage defeated Zachary Reese by KO (slam) at 1:49 of Round 1
• Lightweight Bout: Drakkar Klose defeated Joe Solecki by KO (slam) at 1:41 of Round 1
• Light Heavyweight Bout: Rodolfo Bellato defeated Ihor Potieria by TKO (strikes) at 4:17 of Round 2
• Welterweight Bout: Jared Gooden defeated Wellington Turman by submission (rear-naked choke) at 1:11 of Round 2
• Women's Flyweight Bout: Veronica Hardy defeated Jamey-Lyn Horth by split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)