Arman Tsarukyan has drawn criticism from his lightweight rival, Dan Hooker after he withdrew from his UFC 311 title fight on just a day’s notice.
After several years of impressive wins, including a win over Charles Oliveira at UFC 300, Arman Tsarukyan was finally given a title shot against Islam Makhachev at UFC 311.
Unfortunately, Tsarukyan withdrew from the fight just hours before the official weigh-ins due to a back injury.
Makhahev went on to successfully defend his title against Renato Moicano after scoring the first-round submission.
Following the event, UFC boss Dana White revealed that Tsarukyan won’t be given a title shot next and will need to fight at least once more before being given another opportunity to fight for the belt.
READ MORE: Arman Tsarukyan agrees with Dana White’s title shot dismissal as he names next opponent
Arman Tsarukyan ripped by Dan Hooker following his UFC 311 withdrawal
The 28-year-old’s UFC 311 withdrawal came just days after he admitted he is not 100% committed to MMA, which led to questions from the UFC fanbase as well as fellow fighters.
For several years, fans have claimed that the Armenian comes from an extremely wealthy family after seeing the way he lives and so doesn’t need to fight for a living.
And with that, he has been questioned by his fellow lightweight rival, Dan Hooker.
“How you get injured on your day off, I have no idea, I thought it was pretty strange to get such a severe injury that you need to pull out when you’re cutting weight,” Hooker told Submission Radio.
“It must be a pretty severe injury like your world title is your absolute everything, I don’t know how you would pass up on that opportunity.
“I obviously saw Dana White say he ain’t getting the title shot next and he’s gonna have to work his way back up to the belt. Daddy can’t buy you a backbone can he?” Hooker stated.
After breaking his silence following UFC 311, Tsarukyan claimed that he wants a rematch with Oliveira next as that makes the most sense to determine the next title challenger. Despite that, ‘Do Bronx’ is widely considered as the next challenger regardless of taking another fight.
‘The Hangman’ believes ‘Ahalkalakets’ may now struggle to get opponents to sign to fight him following his late pullout from UFC 311.
“I’d say it will be pretty hard to get someone to sign on the dotted line against Arman if he’s gonna do that and I don’t think that the UFC will even penalize anyone for passing that off… I think he might just have to move his way down the list,” Hooker said.
Dan Hooker doubts Islam Makhachev will move up in weight despite discussions
Makhachev has continuously flirted with the idea of moving up in weight to try to become a double champion, and after his recent win, he even called out Dricus Du Plessis stating his desire to become a triple champion.
However, despite his manager even teasing that Makhachev’s next fight is already being planned by the UFC and ruling out three opponents already, Hooker doesn’t think he will move up in weight.
“He ain’t going up to 170, bro. Nah, I don’t think so, did Khabib (Nurmagomedov) ever go up to 170? Did Khabib ever fight at 170? Like, he talked about it for half a decade, they’re gonna talk about it for half a decade but they won’t do it,” Hooker claimed.
During the UFC 311 broadcast, it was announced that Hooker will fight Justin Gaethje at UFC 313 and a win for ‘The Hangman’ could well earn him a rematch against the Russian champion.