UFC president Dana White has admitted that he doesn’t “give a s***” about Arman Tsarukyan’s ranking, after the No 1 contender was denied a shot at the lightweight title.
Tsarukyan solidified his No 1 ranking in November, dominating and stopping Dan Hooker to close in on a fight with 155lb champion Ilia Topuria.
However, Topuria announced shortly thereafter that he is taking a short break from MMA, leading the UFC to arrange an interim-title fight for January. But Tsarukyan was snubbed, with Paddy Pimblett set to face Justin Gaethje for the interim belt.
“I wouldn’t say that [Arman] is the odd man out," White told reporters Saturday, at the UFC 323 post-fight press conference. “He had an opportunity, and you guys know how that played out.”
White was referring to Tsarukyan’s cancelled title shot in January of this year, when he withdrew from a fight with then-champion Islam Makhachev on one day’s notice. Tsarukyan, 29, cited a back injury, but rumours spread that he was struggling with his weight-cut.
Fans have long suspected that the UFC has been angry with Tsarukyan, who almost got in further hot water by headbutting Hooker at their pre-fight weigh-in, and White continued on Saturday: “He’s gonna have to work his way back. I don’t give a s*** what the number [ranking] says.
“He’s gonna have to work his way back. It’s just... too much goes into this for those type of things to happen. You can’t do that. You can’t get the opportunity and then... it can’t end that way.
“He’s got to work his way back. He knows what’s going on. I don’t give a s*** what everybody else says. He knows what’s going on, and he’s got to work his way back to that title shot.”
After Tsarukyan withdrew from his planned title fight with Makhachev, who outpointed Tsarukyan back in 2019, Makhachev submitted Renato Moicano on short notice.
The Russian then gave up the belt in May, before dethroning welterweight champion Jack Della Maddalena in November. In the meantime, Topuria relinquished the featherweight title and won the lightweight strap that Makhachev had vacated.
Topuria was expected to face Tsarukyan, Pimblett or Gaethje in January, before he announced he was taking a break from MMA due to a “difficult moment” in his personal life.
Topuria, 28, has long held a grudge with Pimblett, having accused the Liverpudlian of posting anti-Georgian tweets in the past. Topuria, who was born in Germany to Georgian parents and also represents Spain, confronted Pimblett over these tweets in London in 2022. The pair again had a run-in this November – in Qatar, in the days before Tsarukyan beat Hooker in the Gulf country.
Tsarukyan’s own feud with Topuria escalated in the days after the fight, when the Armenian took issue with “El Matador” posting a video of a backstage meeting they had this year. Topuria claimed that he had slapped Tsarukyan in the footage, which the latter denied.
