After winning the biggest fight of his career at UFC 300 against Charles Oliveira, Arman Tsarukyan rejected the title shot opportunity at UFC 302 in June. The latter refused to take the short-notice title fight against Islam Makhachev, which got him a stiff jab from Michael Chandler, who criticized him for letting the opportunity pass. Not so long after, the Armenian returned ‘Iron Mike’ the favor by countering his remark with a solid one on ‘X.’
In response to Chandler’s remark, the 27-year-old took to social media, sharing a post, tagging the NCAA Division 1 wrestler, that read,
“I don’t expect you to understand @MikeChandlerMMA. We are not on the same level. I am here to be the champ. You are just waiting for a paycheck. I also don’t understand why you waited Conor fight for 2 years, you could’ve lost 4 exciting fights during that time.”
I don’t expect you to understand @MikeChandlerMMA. We are not on the same level. I am here to be the champ. You are just waiting for a paycheck. I also don’t understand why you waited Conor fight for 2 years, you could’ve lost 4 exciting fights during that time pic.twitter.com/FfysM0YurV
— Arman Tsarukyan UFC (@ArmanUfc) April 23, 2024
In essence, the Armenian dismantled Chandler, essentially saying that he’s not on the same level as him. Tsarukyan also accused that the American was only concerned about money and not about legacy.
The young fighter justified his claims by pointing out that the #7 ranked lightweight waited for 2 years solely because he could make a big money fight against Conor McGregor.
A few days back, it was Chandler who started this conversation when he opined that Tsarukyan missed an opportunity and that “this sport moves fast.” However, one cannot blame Tsarukyan solely because he would definitely need time to be at his 100% before facing a daunting opponent like Islam Makhachev.
Justifying his stance on ‘The MMA Hour’ podcast, the 27-year-old said,
“I said, ‘I gotta think,’ and it was like, what, seven weeks left, and I can’t return too fast so I gotta rest a little bit and have a camp. And if it was at the end of June, yea, I would take that fight because I have at least 10 weeks. You know — two weeks’ rest and eight weeks for preparation.”
The plot thickened even further when the division champion shared his thoughts on the same, with Dustin Poirier filling in the spot. Islam Makhachev also came down on the young fighter saying that he was not surprised by Tsarukyan opting out.
Makhachev takes a shot at Tsarukyan, and says, he is “not surprised”
Soon after the Chandler-Makhachev back-and-forth surfaced, lightweight king, Islam Makhachev took a quick jab at the Armenian. According to the New York Post Sports, Makhachev said,
“I’m not surprised because this guy talks about rematch all his life, but I don’t remember, maybe this third or fourth time UFC gave him a chance to fight with me and he say no. The UFC told me ‘we give you opponent after UFC 300’, I knew if Arman beat [Charles] Oliveira, he [would] never take this fight. That’s why I’m not surprised.”
While Tsarukyan, who just came off a win, can justify his stance, a wasted title shot opportunity is a huge deal in the fight game. Previously, the Dagestani and the Armenian fought each other where a 22-year-old Tsarukyan lost the bout, being defeated in his UFC debut via decision.
