Arman Tsarukyan isn’t seeing eye-to-eye with the UFC after they tried to book him for a July main event.
The top contender in the lightweight division hasn’t fought since Tsarukyan withdrew from UFC 311 where he was set to face the champion, Islam Makhachev, in a rematch.
With the likes of Ilia Topuria entering the division with Paddy Pimblett ascending up the rankings, the 28-year-old has been lost in the shuffle to some degree.
Tsarukyan returned to action at Karate Combat 54 on Friday night where he defeated Makasharip Zaynukov in a submission grappling match before calling out Makhachev.
He has now revealed that whilst the UFC did come to him with a fight, he turned it down because he didn’t believe that it matched his current status at 155-pounds.
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Arman Tsarukyan says he ‘deserves better’ after turning down UFC’s Abu Dhabi plans
In an interview with Sport24 after his Karate Combat victory, Arman Tsarukyan revealed that he turned down the UFC’s offer to headline the promotion’s upcoming return to Abu Dhabi on July 26.
The Armenian competitor has shown interest in fighting Charles Oliveira for a second time having beaten him at UFC 300 last year or squaring off with Dan Hooker in a heated grudge match.
Both men are ranked inside the top 6 at 155-pounds so when the UFC tried to match him against someone lower than this, Tsarukyan didn’t believe that it made sense for him.
“They [UFC] offered me a fight in Abu Dhabi in July, main event, but I turned it down because they offered me an opponent I didn’t want to fight,” Tsarukyan said. “He is below me in the rankings so I didn’t see any reason to fight him.
“In MMA, I see no reason to fight just for money. I need to fight a top 5 or top 6 opponent at the very least to make sure my next fight will be for the title. I am the number one contender, why should I give such a gift to a guy who’s ranked number 10?
“Nobody did that for me when I made it to the top 10… I didn’t want to put my spot on the line for free.”
Tsarukyan was then asked whether there was any concern that this would frustrate the UFC following his late withdrawal ahead of UFC 311’s main event.
He said that if anything, it’s him who is disappointed because he doesn’t believe that he’s getting the kind of fights that he deserves.
“No, it’s the UFC who made me angry when they offered me that kind of an opponent. I would say it was disrespectful to me from their side to offer me that. I deserve better, I am the number one contender. I am not saying they should give me the title shot, just give me a contender fight.”
Though Tsarukyan doesn’t mention the specific name that he was offered, several sources have claimed that it was the #7-ranked Mateusz Gamrot who gave him his last defeat in June of 2022.
Gamrot was recently announced to be facing L’udovit Klein in a three-round fight on May 31.
Who could Arman Tsarukyan fight next?
There are still a lot of questions about how the lightweight division will play out in the coming months but it doesn’t seem unreasonable that Arman Tsarukyan will get his wish of a top 6 opponent.
This could be an issue if the UFC want him to fight someone that is slightly further down the pecking order but given the run that he’s currently on, the top contender’s viewpoint makes sense.
Though Tsarukyan doesn’t name Mateusz Gamrot, he does mention Dan Hooker when questioning why he can’t fight an opponent like ‘The Hangman’ instead.
Hooker may only be one spot above Gamrot in the rankings but he’s currently riding a three-fight win streak that includes a win over ‘Gamer’ last August.