A lightweight fight between Arman Tsarukyan and Dan Hooker will headline UFC Fight Night 265 in Doha, Qatar on November 22nd.

It’s been a long wait to find out who the 28-year-old Tsarukyan would fight next, and finally puts to rest question marks over whether he would be getting a title shot next or not.

The latter option had always seemed like the most likely option despite the fact that Tsarukyan had actually been lined up to fight Islam Makhachev for the belt back in January, before having to withdraw on the eve of the event due to suffering a back injury while cutting weight.

Dana White wasn’t happy with Tsarukyan afterwards and so that appeared to push him back down the lightweight pecking order, despite still being ranked the No.2 contender.

So now Tsarukyan will have to take another fight instead as he looks to build on his current four-fight winning streak that’s seen him beat Damir Ismagulov by decision, stop Joaquim Silva and Beneil Dariush via TKO and KO respectively, before most recently defeating Charles Oliveira by split-decision last year.

Tsarukyan will be going up against the 35-year-old Hooker, who is currently on a three-fight winning streak that has seen him TKO Claudio Puelles, followed by two split-decision victories against Jalin Turner and Mateusz Gamrot to take the No.6 spot in the rankings.

Tsarukyan vs. Hooker fronts a UFC Fight Night 265 event that will mark the UFC’s first ever visit to Qatar and will also feature a newly announced co-main event between Belal Muhammad and Ian Machado Garry.