Moicano Backs Tsarukyan for UFC Gold but Wants Gaethje-Volkanovski First

Renato Moicano gave the sporting answer and the fan answer. They were not the same.

Moicano believes Arman Tsarukyan is equipped to take the UFC lightweight title from Justin Gaethje. If he had control of the matchmaking, though, he would put Alexander Volkanovski in front of Gaethje first.

That split opinion, delivered in an interview with MMA Fighting hours before Moicano's UFC Vegas 123 main event, catches the lightweight title picture at an awkward point. Tsarukyan has built the strongest contender's case. Volkanovski has the bigger cross-division pitch. Gaethje has the belt, and the UFC has announced neither matchup.

Tsarukyan gets Moicano's respect

Moicano did not soften his prediction. He said Tsarukyan's recent knockout of Mauricio Ruffy showed why Gaethje would face a difficult night against him. He even argued that Ruffy is the better pure striker, while stressing that he remains a Gaethje fan.

His case for Tsarukyan rests on the pieces around the striking. Moicano pointed to the challenger's wrestling, grappling and decision making, the parts of a matchup that can take Gaethje away from the exchanges where he is most dangerous.

It is still one fighter's read of a fight that does not exist on the UFC calendar. Moicano did not claim inside knowledge of the promotion's plans, and his praise does not settle how Tsarukyan would handle Gaethje's pressure, low kicks or late-round durability. He picked a winner and explained the matchup. The rest belongs to the matchmakers.

"So I think Arman is the next champion," Moicano told MMA Fighting.

Tsarukyan has already said he expects his next UFC appearance to be a title fight in early 2027. That remains his claim, not a confirmed booking. The promotion has not named Gaethje's next opponent or put a date on his first defense.

The argument for Tsarukyan is easy to follow. He has beaten Charles Oliveira, Dan Hooker and Ruffy in succession, with stoppages in the last two. He also lost his previous title opportunity when a back injury forced him out of the Islam Makhachev rematch one day before UFC 311. He has spent the time since then winning, not waiting.

FightPulse covered Tsarukyan's early-2027 title claim when he made it. Moicano's prediction does not turn that claim into an announcement, but it adds a current lightweight contender's assessment of the matchup.

Why Volkanovski is the fight Moicano would buy

Moicano still prefers the other option.

Volkanovski has proposed moving up to challenge Gaethje after his second-round stoppage of Movsar Evloev at UFC 333. He has floated the bout as a possible final fight for both men. That would put the featherweight and lightweight championships into one event, then potentially leave both divisions without champions if the retirement idea held.

It is messy matchmaking. It is also the kind of fight Moicano thinks the UFC knows how to sell.

He argued that Volkanovski's history at lightweight matters. The Australian pushed Makhachev through five close rounds in their first meeting before losing the short-notice rematch by first-round knockout. Gaethje offers a different fight, one with less of the suffocating wrestling that made Makhachev such a difficult target.

From Gaethje's side, Moicano sees the business clearly. Volkanovski brings a champion's name and a two-division story. Tsarukyan brings the matchup Moicano just described as a bad one.

"I would rather watch Volk than Arman, to be completely honest," Moicano said.

He also admitted that skipping Tsarukyan would not make sense by the rankings. That is the tension. One fight rewards the contender who kept winning. The other sells a rare champion-versus-champion event with retirement talk attached.

Volkanovski's Gaethje proposal was already attractive before Moicano weighed in. His comments give the pitch an endorsement from someone who has shared the Octagon with Makhachev and is still chasing the top of the same division.

Moicano has his own fight first

Moicano's opinion arrives on fight day, and he has more immediate work in front of him. He headlines UFC Vegas 123 against Tom Nolan at Meta APEX. The official UFC listing has the main card starting at 8 p.m. ET on Paramount+.

Nolan enters his first UFC main event on a five-fight winning streak. Moicano returned to the win column in April by submitting Chris Duncan, and Saturday's fight is his chance to protect his place in the lightweight order against a younger opponent trying to take it.

Moicano has his own ambitious name in mind if he beats Nolan. He told UFC.com that he wants Ilia Topuria next, calling the former lightweight champion "easy money." It is a bold request, not a scheduled fight.

For now, every branch of the division depends on results and decisions that have not happened. Gaethje has not committed to Tsarukyan or Volkanovski. The UFC has not chosen between merit and spectacle. Moicano simply said the quiet part out loud: Tsarukyan may be the harder and fairer fight, but Volkanovski is the one he would pay to see.