The MMA fandom is all set to witness the return of Conor McGregor to the octagon as he takes on ‘Iron’ Michael Chandler in a five-round war at the T-Mobile Arena in Vegas. UFC 303 will host the highly anticipated bout and many fighters have picked their sides, including #1 lightweight contender Arman Tsarukyan. The Armenian phenom believes that McGregor will come on top, arguing that Chandler “always fights for fans” and not for himself.
Joining UFC veteran and commentator Michael Bisping in his show on YouTube, the 27-year-old opened up about the super fight. Answering Bisping’s question, he said,
“He (Michael Chandler) never use his brain, he always fights for the fans. He’s going to like, knock him out because he (Conor McGregor) is so dangerous in the first round…”
Tsarukyan also believes that McGregor has superior conditioning and is way smarter. Contrary to the popular notion, he thinks that ‘The Notorious’ can finish the NCAA Division 1 wrestler in the later rounds. Well, this might seem to be a bold and controversial prediction. But Tsarukyan is no stranger to controversies.
Ever since the young gun’s monumental victory against Oliveira, there has been a lot of smoke. His refusal to take up a short-notice title fight against lightweight champion Islam Makhachev did not give him Chandler’s approval on ‘The MMA Hour’.
In return, he slammed the former Bellator fighter, saying that they were not on the same level, mocking the veteran. Amidst this online war of words, pound-for-pound king and lightweight champion, Makhachev also got in a sly jab at Tsarukyan for turning down the title shot.
However, the 27-year-old did not shy away and instead gave a fitting reply to Makhachev.
Tsarukyan fires back at Makhachev with a solid response
Soon after his UFC 300 victory, Tsarukyan was offered a title bout at UFC 302. But the Armenian turned it down, citing that he needed at least two weeks of rest and eight weeks of training camp to challenge for the title.
Makhachev, however, saw this as Tsarukyan avoiding him. The champion said that he was “not surprised” with the 27-year-old’s decision. Makhachev also claimed that this was not the first time he had resorted to such a decision.
Such comments from the champion instigated the young Armenian, who returned the fire at the champ, responding on ‘X’. His retweet read,
“That’s just not truth. The truth is that you want to fight me on short notice to have an extra advantage. It won’t happen again though. When was the last time you fought 2 times in 6 weeks? @MAKHACHEVMMA.”
While Tsarukyan has declined the offer, ‘The Diamond’ has grabbed the opportunity and accepted it. In what will be a golden opportunity for Dustin Poirier to cement his legacy, he will take on the champion at UFC 302 in Newark, New Jersey, in a five-round banger.
