Arman Tsarukyan may have felt hard done by to miss out on the vacant UFC lightweight title fight at UFC 317.
After Islam Makhachev recently vacated his UFC lightweight title, it was announced that Ilia Topuria would take on Charles Oliveira for the strap in the UFC 317 main event.
Ahead of their blockbuster fight, it was announced that longtime 155lb contender Arman Tsarukyan will weigh-in as the backup for the title fight.
However, potentially hoping to secure the next title shot, Topuria claimed that he won’t fight Tsarukyan if he wins at UFC 317, claiming that the Armenian needs another win before he is given a title shot.
Arman Tsarukyan open to fighting UFC star as he waits for title shot
Topuria has also been linked to a potential fight against Paddy Pimblett, as the two continue their longtime feud.
However, despite Pimblett having picked up an impressive win over Michael Chandler earlier this year, ‘El Matador’ has admitted that he won’t be given an immediate title shot either.
Tsarukyan was just a day away from fighting for the title earlier this year at UFC 311 but he withdrew from the fight just a day prior, leaving Dana White fuming.
And with that, ahead of weighing in as the backup for Saturday’s main event, Arman Tsarukyan has revealed that he would be open to a number one contender fight against ‘The Baddy’ next.
Pimblett and Tsarukyan have been going back and forth online over the past few months and it is seemingly a fight that makes sense for both lightweights.
“Paddy looked very good in his last fight and now we can say he can beat top 10 fighters, but I want to fight as soon as possible, so maybe he wants to fight at the end of this year but I wanna fight this summer and then the end of the year,” Tsarukyan told Red Corner MMA.
“Yeah I’d take (a fight against Paddy in the summer), I’d take that because he has a big name… It makes sense,” Tsarukyan continued.
Talks continue regarding Makhachev’s potential move back down to lightweight
Despite the current uncertainty regarding who will fight for the lightweight title next, Islam Makhachev continues to claim that he will move back down to lightweight following his imminent title fight against Jack Della Maddalena.
Fellow lightweight contender Justin Gaethje recently claimed that he will retire if he isn’t given the next lightweight title shot, adding some confusion to the division.