In 2008 Vardanyan won a gold medal at the 2008 European Wrestling Championships. Vardanyan returned to the Olympics in 2008 in Beijing and upset the reigning Olympic Champion and Azeri flag bearer Farid Mansurov in his first match. He then lost to eventual silver medalist Kanatbek Begaliev in the quarterfinals, but rebounded with wins over Jake Deitchler and Nikolay Gergov in the repechage rounds to win a bronze medal. He won a second silver medal at the 2010 World Wrestling Championships and later tried to qualify for the 2012 Summer Olympics, but came in fourth place in the trials where only the top three wrestlers qualified.