Renato Carneiro believes the lightweight division changed the night he replaced Arman Tsarukyan against Islam Makhachev.
Tsarukyan was scheduled to challenge Makhachev for the lightweight title at UFC 311 earlier this year. However, Tsarukyan pulled out a day before the fight due to an injury and was replaced by “Moicano,” who suffered a submission loss against Makhachev.
Makhachev subsequently vacated his belt and moved up to welterweight, where he dethroned Jack Della Maddalena to win the title last month. Meanwhile, Tsarukyan was sidelined from the lightweight title picture as punishment for withdrawing from the fight against Makhachev.