Insider Reveals Arman Tsarukyan Rejected UFC Title Fight Moments Before Dana White Announced Islam Makhachev vs. Dustin Poirier

Allan Binoy | 15/04/2024
Jon Anik Urges Arman Tsarukyan to Wait for Islam Makhachev and Skip Other Fights

Arman Tsarukyan turned down a title fight. The Armenian fighter put on a strong performance against the former UFC Champion Charles Oliveira at UFC 300. He beat the Brazilian via split decision after three rounds of fighting. Following the event, Dana White confirmed Islam Makhachev’s next title fight against Dustin Poirier at UFC 302. However, according to Tsarukyan’s manager, the UFC offered the fight to him first.

Arman Tsarukyan is definitely in line for a title shot soon. However, the Armenian might have decided not to fight again immediately since he did suffer some damage against Oliveira. Following his latest win, the 27-year-old’s manager spoke to Vadim Tikhomirov in an interview on YouTube. Championship Rounds on X translated the interview about the potential title fight. Tsarukyan’s manager said,

“The fight with Islam on June 1st was offered to us…there was no point in going into a title fight with Islam on short notice.”

Arman Tsarukyan’s manager revealed that the team decided not to go into a fight against Islam Makhachev on short notice. They wanted Tsarukyan to be well rested and on top of his game before challenging for the title. The plan now would be to fight the winner of Makhachev vs. Poirier since he is now the #1 contender in the division.

Meanwhile, footages emerged showing Tsarukyan punching a fan at the UFC 300. The Armenian fighter spoke about this incident during his walkout as he sent out a warning to all fans.

Arman Tsarukyan sends out a warning to all fans following UFC 300

During his walkout, tensions were palpable around the arena as not many fans cheered for Arman Tsarukyan. Things got heated up as Tsarukyan was nearing the octagon when he snapped and attacked a fan. The video instantly went viral on social media and the reporters asked him about the same in the post-fight press conference. Tsarukyan said,

“Guys, like no one show me f*ck off (the middle finger), doesn’t matter who you are….I’m from Russia. Don’t do that, please. Or I’m going to go to prison in the U.S.”

Arman Tsarukyan elaborated about how the fan tried to flip him off so he had to retaliate. He then warned fans not to do such things to his face because then he would have to punch them back. Well, Tsarukyan did get back at the fans booing him by triumphing over Charles Oliveira. He will now have his eyes fixed on the lightweight gold when he attempts to take it from the current champion later this year.

Post Edited By: Debmallya Chakraborty
Arman Tsarukyan Dana White

About the author

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Allan Binoy

Allan Binoy is a MMA journalist at The SportsRush. Taken to the sport in 2015, thanks to a certain Conor McGregor, Allan has himself dabbled in the martial arts. And having graduated from Loyola College, Chennai, with a degree in English Literature, he has learnt to use his love for language to have a voice in the MMA community. Allan has been writing about the gladiatorial stories for more than three years now and has pursued excellence at a number of reputable media organizations, covering every UFC PPV in the last couple of years. In addition to this, the southpaw is also a semi-professional soccer player for Diego Juniors FC in Pune, playing in the Pune Super Division League.

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